| Leafhoppers Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Adult two-lined gum treehoppers (Eurymeloides bicincta, Eurymelinae) with symbiotic meat ants | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Auchenorrhyncha |
| Superfamily: | Membracoidea |
| Family: | Cicadellidae Latreille, 1802 |
| Subfamilies | |
|
24, see text | |
Leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and are covered with hairs that facilitate the spreading of a secretion over their bodies that acts as a water repellent and carrier of pheromones.[1] They undergo a partial metamorphosis, and have various host associations, varying from very generalized to very specific. Some species have a cosmopolitan distribution, or occur throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Some are pests or vectors of plant viruses and phytoplasmas.[1] The family is distributed all over the world, and constitutes the second-largest hemipteran family, with at least 20,000 described species.
They belong to a lineage traditionally treated as infraorder Cicadomorpha in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. This has sometimes been placed in its own suborder (Clypeorrhyncha),[2] but more recent research retains it within Auchenorrhyncha.[3]
Members of the tribe Proconiini of the subfamily Cicadellinae are commonly known as sharpshooters.[4]
- ^ a b Stiller, Michael (October–December 2009). "Biosystematics: Leafhoppers associated with grasslands of South Africa – Grassland Biome endemics" (PDF). Plant Protection News. 82: 6.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Sorensen, John T.; Campbell, Bruce C.; Gill, Raymond J. (1995). "Non-monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha ("Homoptera"), based upon 18S rDNA phylogeny: eco-evolutionary and cladistic implications within pre-Heteropterodea Hemiptera (s.l.) and a proposal for new monophyletic suborders". Pan-Pacific Entomologist. 71 (1): 31–60.
- ^ Cryan, Jason R.; Urban, Julie M. (2012). "Higher-level phylogeny of the insect order Hemiptera: is Auchenorrhyncha really paraphyletic?". Systematic Entomology. 37 (1): 7–21. Bibcode:2012SysEn..37....7C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2011.00611.x. S2CID 86564882.
- ^ Paradell, Susana L.; Virla, Eduardo G.; Logarzo, Guillermo A.; Dellapé, Gimena (2012). "Proconiini Sharpshooters of Argentina, with Notes on Its Distribution, Host Plants, and Natural Enemies". Journal of Insect Science. 12 (116): 116. doi:10.1673/031.012.11601. ISSN 1536-2442. PMC 3633250. PMID 23445207.