Superfamily Membracoidea (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha). II. Cladistic analysis and conclusions

Homologies among traditional morphological characters in the Membracoidea (sensu lato) are reassessed and the phylogenetic relationships among higher membracoid taxa are explored, incorporating new morphological evidence from nymphs and adults. Weighted and unweighted parsimony analyses of a matrix of sixty–three characters and thirty‐nine OTUs representing the families Aetalionidae, Cicadellidae, Melizoderidae and Membracidae, and an outgroup (superfamily Cercopoidea) yielded various topologies that were largely congruent but presented alternative hypotheses of relationships among the Membracidae. These analyses indicate that the superfamily consists of the following clades: Cicadellidae + (Melizoderidae + (Aetalionidae + Membracidae)). The family Membracidae, traditionally characterized by the presence of a posterior pronotal process, apparently gave rise to Nicomia Stål and other genera that lack this process.