A phylogeny with divergence-time estimation of planthoppers (Hemiptera: Fulgoroidea) based on mitochondrial sequences

Abstract The planthopper superfamily Fulgoroidea (Hemiptera: Fulgoromorpha) currently includes more than 14 000 described species in about 21 extant families. Despite multiple studies attempted, based on morphological characters or DNA sequence data, the phylogeny of this superfamily remains unsatisfactorily resolved. Here we reconstruct the phylogenetic relationship among the families of this superfamily based on the whole mitogenome sequences from 113 species representing 17 planthopper families and three families as outgroups, in which 41 species of Fulgoroidea were sequenced for this study. The phylogenetic trees were reconstructed based on three different datasets, both by maximum likelihood (ML, IQtree) and Bayesian inference (BI, MrBayes, and PhyloBayes). The tree topologies of ML and BI analyses were quite similar with only a few differences in some clades. The phylogenetic results showed that Cixiidae and Delphacidae were placed as sister-taxa at the base of this superfamily; the clade Fulgoridae + Dictyopharidae appeared younger than the Meenoplidae + Kinnaridae one, Derbidae and Achilidae were more recently derived than Fulgoridae + Dictyopharidae without depicting a monophyletic unit, and Tropiduchidae and Acanaloniidae appeared as sister-taxa. The divergence-time estimation analysis shows that most planthoppers underwent relatively rapid radiation during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Divergence time between Cixiidae and Delphacidae can be traced back to the Middle Jurassic; Meenoplidae, Fulgoridae, and Issidae originated in the Lower Cretaceous; Lophopidae and Eurybrachidae can be traced to the Upper Cretaceous. This paper reconstructs the cladogram of Fulgoroidea based on more comprehensive mitogenome sequences so far, which could provide new clues for a better understanding of the evolution of this superfamily. However, the taxa sampling appears insufficient to address controversial groups in Fulgoroidea.