Family: Cixiidae
Subfamily: None defined in Cixiidae
Length: males 5.3-6.0 mm; females 6.0-6.5 mm
China (1942) stated that nymphs in the genus Cixius all feed on roots, (especially the roots of grasses), living in crevices in the soil.
Kramer (1981) reported that while there are some external differences among the different species of Cixius, "the structural modifications of the male genitalia provide the only consistent features for the separation of species."
Fitch, in 1851, reported the plant preferences of Cixius pini: various species of Fir, Spruce, and Pine. Osborn (1938) stated that this species is "said to live on Huckleberry."
Kramer reported Cixius pini from Cranberry Glades in West Virginia; other states with records of the species include Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
Cixius pini is the only species of Cixius reported from West Virginia, but that does not mean that other species do not occur in the Mountain State. Auchenorrhyncha are under-collected compared with other types of insects. Our photos here match closely published photos of Cixius pini, but we leave Kramer with the last word, that the male genitalia offer "the only consistent features for the separation of species" in genus Cixius.
