K.G.A. Hamilton. 1998. "Short-Horned" Bugs (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha) in Smith, I.M., and G.G.E. Scudder, eds. Assessment of species diversity in the Montane Cordillera Ecozone. Burlington: Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Network, 1998.

"SHORT-HORNED" BUGS
(HOMOPTERA: AUCHENORRHYNCHA)

K.G.A. Hamilton

INTRODUCTION

The "short-horned" bugs (Homoptera-Auchenorrhyncha) are so called because they have small, bristle-like antennae. Cicadas (Cicadidae) are the largest "short-horned" bugs. They are notable for their loud mating calls or "songs" and their subterranean nymphs. Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae), spittlebugs (Cercopidae), treehoppers (Membracidae) and planthoppers (Fulgoroidea) are small insects that are powerful jumpers. All "short-horned" bugs feed on plant sap as adults; nymphs of 2 small fulgoroid families (Derbidae; Achilidae) feed on fungi under bark. These suctorial insects form a sizeable portion of the Canadian insect biomass. They probably supply a large part of the diet of insect and arachnid predators and parasites. They are thus important in nutrient cycling.

Cicada  Cicadellidae  Derbidae  Achilidae

Most "short-horned" bugs are well studied taxonomically but "micro-leafhoppers" (the cicadellid subfamily Typhlocybinae) are both poorly represented in collections, and require much systematic work.

The biology of “short-horned” bugs is much less well known than their taxonomy. Food plants and ecological zonation patterns are best studied for tree-and grass-feeding species. Tree-inhabiting species, especially "micro-leafhoppers," probably are dispersed by wind much more than ground-inhabiting species which makes problematic any association with habitats and ecozones.