The hemipteran family Cicadellidae (leafhoppers) is one of the 10 largest families of insects with over 23,000 described species. This sap-feeding group contains many species of agricultural importance, including some notorious vectors of plant diseases. Phylogenetic relationships have not been well studied for many lineages within this group. Besides, associations between specific leafhopper species and bacterial group (e.g., endosymbionts, phytoplasmas) are largely unknown. This project aims to perform a large-scale phylogenetic study of leafhoppers as well as investigate the leafhopper-bacteria associations using the genes captured by the anchored hybrid method.
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