Illuminating the Lanternfly Tree: Phylogenetic investigation of the planthopper families Fulgoridae and Dictyopharidae (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea)

The planthopper families Fulgoridae and Dictyopharidae (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Fulgoroidea) form a monophyletic, widely distributed, iconic, and yet systematically neglected lineage of phloem-feeding herbivores. Approximately 1,050 species are described in ~265 genera across these two families, but biodiversity estimates suggest that the true number of extant species may be much higher. No phylogenetic hypothesis has been published for Dictyopharidae. Emeljanov (1979; 2004) noted considerable difficulty in distinguishing Fulgoridae from Dictyopharidae, and further proposed a novel classification in which certain dictyopharid subfamilies (Aluntiinae, Dorysarthrinae, Dichopterinae, and Lyncidinae) were included within Fulgoridae. Moreover, Emeljanov (1979) hypothesized that the fulgorid subfamily Zanninae was affiliated with at least one of these previously dictyopharid subfamilies. Results of the first-ever phylogenetic analysis of Fulgoridae (Urban & Cryan, 2009) indicated that Fulgoridae and Dictyopharidae are not monophyletic sister groups as currently defined and long accepted. Specifically, these data supported the placement of the genus Zanna outside of Fulgoridae. I will present results of an ongoing phylogenetic investigation of Fulgoridae + Dictyopharidae based on DNA nucleotide sequence data from six genes (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA, H3, Wg, COI, and COII) generated from approximately 200 exemplars of Fulgoridae and Dictyopharidae collected from throughout the world, including representatives of the lineages Emeljanov (1979, 2004) moved into Fulgoridae from Dictyopharidae. With these results, I will discuss: the phylogenetic position of Zanna, support for the current higher classifications of Fulgoridae and Dictyopharidae, and biogeographic patterns in the distribution of extant species.