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
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 ten 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:C. H. Dietrich in Resh, V. H. & Carde, R. T. (Eds.) 2003 Encyclopedia of Insects. Academic Press .
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
References
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