Melanoliarus transitorius ( Berg, 1883 )

Hendrix, Solomon V. & Bartlett, Charles R., 2025, Reclassification of the Planthopper Genus Melanoliarus Fennah, 1945 (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha: Cixiidae), primarily North of Mexico, with Notes on American Pentastirini, Zootaxa 5619 (1), pp. 1-87 : 67

Melanoliarus transitorius ( Berg, 1883)

Fig. 38

Oliarus transitorius Berg, 1883 a: 187 (original description)

Remarks. This species was described based on a single specimen from “the Eastern Band of Uruguay, near the Corralito River, at the end of February 1883 ” ( Berg 1883: 188, translated from Spanish). In the present day, the “Eastern Band of Uruguay ” (La Banda Oriental del Río Uruguay) is a region that includes Uruguay and part of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Berg (1883: 188) stated that this species was closest to the Afro-Eurasian genus Hyalesthes Signoret based on the “faded and previously interrupted intermediate carinae of the mesonotum and because of the forehead separated very little from the clypeum, as the suture is barely indicated” (translated from Spanish). Beyond the initial description of the habitus, this species is practically unknown. The singular type specimen ( Fig. 38 ) was found deposited at Universidad Nacional de La Plata , Argentina . Unfortunately, the end of the abdomen is missing and the sex of the specimen is unknown. Externally, the species is most similar to Melanoliarus texanus and an undescribed species collected from Curaçao (unpublished). We have located several specimens determined by F.W. Mead at the FSCA that were compared to the type and intend to address this species elsewhere.

Figures

FIGURE 38. Oliarus transitorius holotype. A) dorsal habitus view, B) lateral habitus view, C) frontal view, D) labels.