Diversity and temporal variations of the Hemiptera Auchenorrhyncha fauna in the Ajaccio region (France, Corsica)

Abstract

SummaryDuring a one-year survey of the Auchenorrhyncha fauna in a maquis habitat of the Ajaccio region (Corsica), 37 species were listed including three alien species recorded in Europe in the last decades. The standard 658 bp mitochondrial COI barcode was obtained for 32 species, including 14 species never previously barcoded. Neighbor-joining analyses confirmed the delineation for all the species. However, comparisons with available sequences from mainland Europe showed that four species presented a significant intraspecific divergence (>3%), whereas a reduced interspecific divergence was found for another set of species. Complementary studies may therefore be necessary to better assess their taxonomic levels. Three species – Euscelis lineolata Brullé, 1832 (Cicadellidae), Philaenus spumarius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Aphrophoridae) and Latilica maculipes (Melichar, 1906) (Issidae) – accounted for up to 74.3% of the total insects collected. Although taxonomic interpretations using restricted sampling and COI sequences alone are not robust, the proportion of new sequences highlight the global lack of knowledge about the Auchenorrhyncha as a whole and the potentially presence of cryptic taxa in different clades.