Order Hemiptera
Sub-order Homoptera
Family Cicadidae
Genus Melampsalta Amyot, 1847

Melampsalta campbelli (Myers), 1923

• 1923. Pauropsalta, campbelli Myers
• 1923. Pauropsalta maorica Myers
• 1927. Melampsalta campbelli Myers
• 1927. Melampsalta maorica Myers

I have collected this species from many parts of New Zealand and the specimens are deposited in the Dominion Museum collections, which now contain a fine series. This cicada can readily be recognised

in the field by its characteristic chirping sound. Several of the specimens in the Museum's collections have five apical cells in the hind-wing and would identify as M. maorica Myers (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 77, p. 31). However, the series also contains several specimens with five apical cells on one side and six on the opposite side. This, together with the fact that the colour pattern varies from that typical of campbelli to that typical of maorica, establishes the synonymy of the two species, and, as campbelli has page priority over caorica, the species must henceforth be known under the name campbelli. The type specimen of maorica, which is in the Cawthron Institute collections, has a prominent red band over the tip of the abdomen, but many specimens of campbelli also have this; in fact, the red banding and silver pubescence of the abdomen is a very variable character.