Abstract Internal anatomical characters of Cicadellidae have rarely been incorporated into higher‐level systematics, despite their potential phylogenetic signal. We compared the digestive, excretory (Malpighian tubules) and reproductive systems of 39 leafhopper species representing 12 cicadellid subfamilies, together with five outgroup taxa from related hemipteran lineages. Standardized dissections and light‐microscope imaging were used to document organ architecture. Forty‐two discrete characters were scored for phylogenetic inference using maximum parsimony using both equal and implied weighting ( k = 9). Subfamilies differ significantly in the organization of salivary glands, the relative development of the filter chamber, conical segment and midgut loop, the morphology and pigmentation of Malpighian tubule segments, as well as the configuration of male and female reproductive systems (e.g., seminal vesicle encapsulation and connectivity; common oviduct dilation and accessory gland number/position). The resulting trees recover Cicadellidae as paraphyletic with Membracidae nested within it, and indicate non‐monophyly of several traditionally recognized subfamilies (including Evacanthinae, Deltocephalinae and Eurymelinae). The results demonstrate that internal anatomical characters provide informative, complementary evidence for resolving relationships among major cicadellid lineages and will be useful for future systematic revisions.
Lyu et al. (Wed,) studied this question.