Phylogenomics of microleafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae): morphological evolution, divergence times, and biogeography

Abstract

Phylogenomic analyses of datasets comprising 665 anchored loci and 234 species representing all recognized tribes and regional faunas of the leafhopper subfamily Typhlocybinae yielded well-resolved phylogenies for this group, largely robust to differences in analytical approach. The results support the 5 currently recognized tribes as monophyletic: Alebrini, Empoascini, Typhlocybini, Dikraneurini, and Erythroneurini, but the previously recognized tribes Zyginellini and Eupterygini are polyphyletic. A new tribe Beameranini is described based on the morphologically aberrant Neotropical genus Beamerana Young. Morphological characters traditionally used to recognize tribes are mostly stable but nearly all exhibit some homoplasy, with similar reductions and consolidations of some hind wing veins having occurred in independent lineages. Divergence time estimates indicate that the currently recognized tribes all arose during the mid- to late Cretaceous with some early splits between New and Old World lineages occur during the late Cretaceous, but most modern genera arising during the Paleogene and multiple transcontinental dispersal events also occur in the Paleogene.

Phylogeny and biogeography of the sharpshooters (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae)

“…Previously published divergence time analyses of leafhoppers have either focused on the entire superfamily Membracoidea with very limited sampling within individual subfamilies (Dietrich et al, 2017) or have focused on individual subfamilies other than Cicadellinae (Cao et al, 2022, 2023; Krishnankutty et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2017; Xue et al, 2020). Our analysis is the first to provide detailed estimates of divergence times and areas of origin for lineages within Cicadellinae.…”

Genetic differentiation and phylogeography of Erythroneurini (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) in the southwestern karst area of China

“…The first fossil Typhlocybinae inclusions from Eocene Rovno amber, and recent molecular time trees place the origin of Cicadellidae in the Cretaceous (Christopher et al., 2023 ; Johnson, Dietrich, Friedrich, Beutel, et al., 2018 ; Johnson, Dietrich, Friedrich, Beutelet, et al., 2018 ; Lu et al., 2021 ), but most modern genera arising during the Paleogene and multiple transcontinental dispersal events occur in the Paleogene (Cao et al., 2023 ). The divergence of S. bacilla in the southwest was also shown to have occurred about 54.832 Mya during the Paleogene.…”

“…Leafhopper distribution is often constrained by barriers to dispersal such as mountains, water bodies, or regions of unsuitable habitat. Previous studies of leafhopper biogeography (e.g., Cao et al., 2023 ; Krishnankutty et al., 2016 ; Wang et al., 2017 ) have revealed considerable large‐scale biogeographic structure, with many diverse lineages restricted to particular biogeographic regions. Few studies have examined smaller‐scale biogeographic patterns among species within a single genus (e.g., Bernt et al., 2013 ; Zhang et al., 2016 ) and studies of phylogeographic patterns within individual leafhopper species have, so far, focused only on agricultural pests (e.g., Akmal et al., 2018 ; Zhang et al., 2020 ).…”

Two new species of Erythroneurini (Hemiptera, Cicadellidae, Typhlocybinae) from southern China based on morphology and complete mitogenomes

“…Phylogenetic relationships of major lineages of Cicadellidae have been researched for many of years ( Skinner et al, 2019 ; Wang et al, 2020a ; Wang et al, 2020b ; Lu et al, 2021 ; Yan et al, 2022 ; Hu et al, 2023 ; Cao et al, 2023 ). More recently, diverse markers have been applied to perform phylogenetic inferences of Hemiptera, which consist of shape characteristic, mitochondrial genes, nuclear genes and a combination of them, together with transcriptomes on the basis of next-generation sequencing ( Almeida et al, 2009 ; Wang et al, 2010 ; Yao et al, 2021 ).…”