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)

Hemiptera

Auchenorrhyncha