Key to the families and subfamilies of Cicadoidea
1 Pronotum greatly expanded and concealing majority of mesonotum ................................................................................................................. Tettigarctidae
—— Pronotum not expanded over mesonotum, much smaller than mesonotum ............................................................................................................. Cicadidae ..... 2
2 Metanotum entirely concealed at dorsal midline ........................................................... Cicadinae
—— Metanotum partly visible at dorsal midline ................................................................................... 3
3 Hind wing veins RP and M fused at their bases; supra-antennal plate usually (but not always) meeting or nearly meeting eye ................................... Cicadettinae
—— Hind wing veins RP and M unfused at their bases; distance between supra-antennal and eye about equal to length of antennal plate ................................. Tettigadinae