Auchenorrhyncha

The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the other well-known "Homoptera", and they are in the suborder Sternorrhyncha.

Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, and many are vectors of viral and fungal diseases of plants.

It is also common for Auchenorrhyncha species to produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication. Such calls range from vibrations inaudible to humans, to the calls of many species of cicadas that can be heard for hundreds of metres, at least. In season, they produce the most characteristic and ubiquitous noise of the bush.

Etymology

The word "Auchenorrhyncha" is derived from the Greek words αὐχήν (auchēn), meaning "neck" or "throat," and ῥύγχος (rhynchos), meaning "snout".

Classification

File:Jikradia olitoria. nymph 2.jpg

Jikradia olitoria, nymph (Cicadellidae)

File:Aphrophora nymph.jpg

Aphrophora sp., nymph (Aphrophoridae)

File:Metcalfa pruinosa (nymph).jpg

Metcalfa pruinosa, nymphs (Flatidae)

File:Acanaloniidae conica adults.webm

Green coneheaded planthoppers, Acanalonia conica in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, on the underside of a milkweed leaf.

File:Planthopper nymphs.webm

Planthopper nymphs on coneflower stem. Includes a slow motion segment

Debate and uncertainty as to whether the Auchenorrhyncha is a monophyletic group or not is ongoing; some authors, believing it was not, split it into two suborders, the Clypeorrhyncha (= Cicadomorpha) and the Archaeorrhyncha (= Fulgoromorpha). In the last 10 years, there has been evidence to support the monophyletic interpretation, and the most recent research indicates the Auchenorrhyncha are in fact a monophyletic lineage. A classification of the Auchenorrhyncha is:

• Infraorder Cicadomorpha (Clypeorrhyncha, Clypeata)
  • Superfamily Cercopoidea (spittlebugs, froghoppers)
    • Aphrophoridae
    • Cercopidae
    • Clastopteridae
    • Epipygidae
    • Machaerotidae
  • Superfamily Cicadoidea (cicadas)
    • Cicadidae (Platypediidae, Plautillidae, Tettigadidae, Tibicinidae)
    • Tettigarctidae (hairy cicadas)
  • Superfamily Membracoidea (Cicadelloidea)
    • Aetalionidae (Biturritiidae)
    • Cicadellidae (Eurymelidae, Hylicidae, Ledridae, Ulopidae, leafhoppers)
    • Melizoderidae
    • Membracidae (Nicomiidae, treehoppers)
    • Myerslopiidae (Cicadellidae, in part)
• Infraorder Fulgoromorpha (Archaeorrhyncha, planthoppers)
  • Superfamily Fulgoroidea
    • Acanaloniidae
    • Achilidae
    • Achilixiidae
    • Caliscelidae
    • Cixiidae
    • Delphacidae
    • Derbidae
    • Dictyopharidae
    • Eurybrachyidae
    • Flatidae
    • Fulgoridae (lanternflies)
    • Gengidae
    • Hypochthonellidae
    • Issidae
    • Kinnaridae
    • Lophopidae
    • Meenoplidae
    • Nogodinidae
    • Ricaniidae
    • Tettigometridae
    • Tropiduchidae

External links

• World Auchenorrhyncha Database
• Bibliography of the Auchenorrhyncha of Central Europe
• DrMetcalf: a resource on cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers, spittlebugs, and treehoppers
• Photographic Atlas of the Planthoppers and Leafhoppers of Germany
• Photographs of the Auchenorrhyncha of North and South America