Membracoidea

{{Short description|Superfamily of true bugs}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossil range|Late Triassic|Recent}}

| image = Common jassid nymph and ant02.jpg

| image_caption = Leafhopper nymph of the Common Jassid (Eurymela fenestrata) on a eucalyptus branch, with ant

| taxon = Membracoidea

| authority = Rafinesque 1815

| subdivision_ranks = Families

| subdivision = * Aetalionidae

• †Archijassidae
• Cicadellidae
• Melizoderidae
• Membracidae
• Myerslopiidae

}}

The superfamily Membracoidea of sap-sucking true-bugs includes two of the largest families within what used to be called the "Homoptera": the leafhoppers (Cicadellidae) and the treehoppers (Membracidae). The other families in this group are quite small, and have, at various points, generally been included as members within other families, though they are all presently considered to be valid, monophyletic groups. The relict family Myerslopiidae is restricted to New Zealand and South America while the Melizoderidae consist of two genera restricted to South America.{{Cite journal|author=Szwedo, Jacek|year=2004|title=An annotated checklist of Myerslopiidae with notes on the distribution and origin of the group (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha)|journal=Zootaxa|volume=425|pages=1–15|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.425.1.1}}{{Cite journal|author=Szwedo, Jacek|year=2004|title=A new genus and six new species of ground-dwelling leafhoppers from Chile and New Zealand (Hemiptera: Cicadomorpha: Myerslopiidae)|journal=Zootaxa|volume=424|pages=1–20|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.424.1.1}} [http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2004f/z00424f.pdf Abstract] The great diversity of Neotropical taxa suggests that the group originated in that region.

{{Cladogram|title=|align=left|caption=Family relations within the Membracoidea{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3113.2004.00285.x|title=Molecular phylogeny of Cicadomorpha (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadoidea, Cercopoidea and Membracoidea): Adding evidence to the controversy|journal=Systematic Entomology|volume=30|issue=4|pages=563–574|year=2005|last1=Cryan|first1=Jason R|bibcode=2005SysEn..30..563C |s2cid=81988116}}{{Cite journal|doi=10.1071/IT96028|title=The ground-dwelling leafhoppers Myerslopiidae, new family, and Sagmatiini, new tribe (Homoptera : Membracoidea)|journal=Invertebrate Systematics|volume=13|issue=2|pages=207|year=1999|last1=Andrew|first1=K. G}}

|cladogram={{clade|style=font-size:75%;line-height:75%

|label1=Membracoidea

|1={{clade

|1={{extinct}}Karajassidae

|2={{clade

|1={{extinct}}Jascopidae

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|label1=

|1={{clade

|label1=

|1={{clade

|1=Aetalionidae

|2=Membracidae

}}

|2=Cicadellidae

}}

|2=Melizoderidae

}}

|2=Myerslopiidae

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

The Membracoidea share the following anatomical characteristics, a tentorium which is incomplete, the midcoxae are enlarged; and the mid and hind tibiae have rows of setae. The position of Jascopidae represented by Jascopus notabilis and Homopterulum jelli is not entirely clear but they have setal rows on the front and middle tibiae.{{Cite journal|last1=Dietrich|first1=Christopher H.|last2=Deitz|first2=Lewis L.|date=1993|title=Superfamily Membracoidea (Homoptera: Auchenorrhyncha). II. Cladistic analysis and conclusions|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230621|journal=Systematic Entomology|language=en|volume=18|issue=4|pages=297–311|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3113.1993.tb00668.x|bibcode=1993SysEn..18..297D |s2cid=83755026|issn=0307-6970}}