| Comment: NOTE: Chlorotettix is a notoriously difficult genus to identify to species visually; a majority of the species are various shade of yellow and green, and they can only be reliably distinguished by looking at genital features. Therefore, it is very important for all Chlorotettix species other than distinctive ones like necopinus to obtain a picture of the underside.
This species is noted as "resembling C. tergatus so closely in coloration and structural characters that the two can scarcely be distinguished by external characters. Usually melanotus is darker in color" though (DeLong 1948). However, the male plates of melanotus are a little broader at the tip and more strongly rounded. This species is also very similar to C. fuscus, but seemingly (??) doesn't have the broken transverse band on the vertex that C. fuscus has. Additionally, while the pregenital sternites are very similar between fuscus and melanotus (they are different from tergatus), fuscus seems to have a wider excavation and less concave (wider) posterior margin on either side of the excavation compared to melanotus. Additionally, it can be differentiated from fuscus and tergatus by the short, curved pygofer spine and the bifurcate aedeagal processes in the posterior aspect. |
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