Auchenorrhyncha
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The Auchenorrhyncha is the suborder of the Hemiptera which contains most of the familiar members of what was traditionally 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. It is also common for Auchenorrhyncha to produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication.
Classification
There has been a fair bit of debate and uncertainty as to whether the Auchenorrhyncha is a monophyletic group or not; some authors, believing it was not, split it into two suborders, the Clypeorrhyncha (= Cicadomorpha) and the Archaeorrhyncha (= Fulgoromorpha). In the last 10 years, however, there has been little evidence to support this interpretation, and the most recent research indicates that the Auchenorrhyncha are indeed a monophyletic lineage, and there is thus no reason to adopt the new names or the suggested re-classification.
Well-known groups in the Auchenorrhyncha include:
- cicadas - (Cicadidae)
- froghoppers, also known as spittlebugs - (Cercopidae and allied families)
- treehoppers - (Membracidae)
- leafhoppers - (Cicadellidae)
- planthoppers - (Fulgoroidea)
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