Auchenorrhyncha: (Cicadas, Spittlebugs, Leafhoppers, Treehoppers, and Planthoppers)

This chapter discusses hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha its life history, behavior, and ecology, which is the group of sapsucking insects comprising the modern superfamilies, Cercopoidea, Cicadoidea, Membracoidea, and Fulgoroidea. Together, these groups include more than 40,000 described species. Morphologically, Auchenorrhyncha differ from other Hemiptera in having the antennal flagellum hair-like, the rostrum arising from the posteroventral surface of the head, a complex sound-producing tymbal apparatus, and the wing-coupling apparatus consisting of a long, downturned fold on the forewing and a short, upturned lobe on the hind wing. Adult male and female Auchenorrhyncha locate each other by means of species-specific acoustic courtship signals. These signals are produced by specialized organs at the base of the abdomen called tymbals, present in both sexes. A few cicadas and planthoppers are also able to use the stridulatory surfaces of their wings to produce sound. The loud, sometimes deafening, calls of many male cicadas are well known. In noncicadoids, the courtship calls are usually inaudible, being transmitted through the substrate, and distinct tympana are absent. The calls of some leafhoppers and planthoppers, audible only with special amplifying equipment, are among the most complex and beautiful of any produced by insects.