Numbers
about 3,000 described species in NA, ca. 22,000 described species worldwide (estimated global diversity >100,000 spp.) arranged into ~25 subfamilies and almost 60 tribes
(1)(2)Size
2-30 mm, usually under 13 mm
Identification
Key to subfamilies and tribes in
(1), simplified version in
(3)
Wing nomenclature
Range
worldwide; in NA, some species migrate south in the fall, and back north in the spring
selected checklists and faunal works:
(4)Habitat
nearly every habitat with vascular plants, incl. deserts, grasslands, wetlands, and forests
Season
year-round in the south; spring through fall in the north; some species overwinter as adults beneath leaf litter or matted grasses
Food
nymphs and adults feed on sap of above-ground stems or leaves of plants; some species are more host-specific than others
Life Cycle
varies according to species; in general, female inserts several eggs into living tissue of host plant; eggs either remain dormant for a period ranging from a month to over a year, or develop and hatch within a few weeks; nymphs undergo five molts, reaching adult stage in several weeks or months
Remarks
Leafhoppers coat their bodies and wings with a light dusting of water-repellent waxy material (brochosomes), sometimes distributed unevenly as bilaterally asymmetric whitish streaks [
Dr Hamilton's comment]
Leafhoppers have sound-producing organs (tymbals) at the base of abdomen (songs usually too faint for human ear)
Several species are serious crop pests; some transmit plant pathogens (viruses, mycoplasma-like organisms, etc.)
all current extant subfamilies
Aphrodinae Haupt, 1927: worldwide
Bathysmatophorinae Anufriev, 1978: holarctic
Cicadellinae Latreille, 1825: worldwide
Coelidiinae Dohrn, 1859: worldwide (introduced in Europe)
Deltocephalinae Dallas, 1870: worldwide
Errhomeninae Fieber, 1872: palearctic
Eurymelinae Amyot & Serville, 1843: worldwide
Evacanthinae Metcalf, 1939: worldwide
Hylicinae Distant, 1908: afrotropical, indomalayan
Iassinae Walker, 1870: worldwide
Ledrinae Kirschbaum, 1868: worldwide
Megophthalminae Kirkaldy, 1906: worldwide
Mileewinae Evans, 1947: afrotropical, indomalayan, neotropical, australian
Neobalinae Linnavuori, 1959: neotropical
Neocoelidiinae Oman, 1943: nearctic, neotropical
Nioniinae Oman, 1943: nearctic, neotropical
Phereurhininae Kramer, 1976: neotropical [unpublished phylogenetic analysis reveals this subfamily to be a tribe of Cicadellinae]
Portaninae Linnavuori, 1959: neotropical
Signoretiinae Baker, 1915: afrotropical, indomalayan
Tartessinae Distant, 1908: indomalayan, australian, neotropical
Typhlocybinae Kirschbaum, 1868: worldwide
Ulopinae Le Peletier & Serville, 1825: old world
