Studies of new world treehoppers of the subfamily Centrotinae with emphasis on the Caribbean fauna (hemiptera: membracidae)

Abstract

The subfamily Centrotinae (Hemiptera: Membracidae) is an ancient group of treehoppers comprising over half of the known treehopper genera and is the only membracid lineage with a cosmopolitan distribution. Although higher-level morphological systematic analyses have greatly improved our understanding of this group, the relationships within the New World fauna remain unclear, particularly in light of recently described and still undescribed genera from Central America and the Caribbean islands. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses based on 115 morphological characters, nuclear ribosomal 28S DNA and protein-coding histone 3 (H3) gene sequence fragments were performed to test the monophyly of two centrotine tribes endemic to the Caribbean Islands, Nessorhinini and Monobelini. Many relationships were recovered with low node support or were unresolved; however, the results provide moderate support for a single colonization of the Greater Antilles by Mesoamerican ancestors.