TY - JOUR A1 - Hoch, Hannelore A1 - Wessel, Andreas A1 - Asche, Manfred A1 - Baum, Daniel A1 - Beckmann, Felix A1 - Bräunig, Peter A1 - Ehrig, Karsten A1 - Mühlethaler, Roland A1 - Riesemeier, Heinrich A1 - Staude, Andreas A1 - Stelbrink, Björn A1 - Wachmann, Ekkehard A1 - Weintraub, Phyllis A1 - Wipfler, Benjamin A1 - Wolff, Carsten A1 - Zilch, Mathias T1 - Non-Sexual Abdominal Appendages in Adult Insects Challenge a 300 Million Year Old Bauplan JF - Current Biology Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.11.040 VL - 24 IS - 1 SP - R16 EP - R17 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ehlers, Sarah A1 - Baum, Daniel A1 - Mühlethaler, Roland A1 - Hoch, Hannelore A1 - Bräunig, Peter T1 - Large abdominal mechanoreceptive sense organs in small plant-dwelling insects JF - Biology Letters N2 - The Hemiptera is the largest non-endopterygote insect order comprising approximately 98,000 recent species. All species of the suborders Cicadomorpha (leafhoppers, spittlebugs, treehoppers and cicadas) and Fulgoromorpha (planthoppers) feed by sucking sap from plant tissues and are thus often vectors for economically important phytopathogens. Except for the cicadas (Cicadomorpha: Cicadoidea: Cicadidae) which produce air-borne sounds, all species of the suborders Cicadomorpha and Fulgoromorpha communicate by vibrational (substrate-borne) signals. While the generation of these signals has been extensively investigated, the mechanisms of perception are poorly understood. This study provides a full description and 3D reconstruction of a large and complex array of six paired chordotonal organs in the first abdominal segments of the Rhododendron leafhopper Graphocephala fennahi (Cicadomorpha: Membracoidea: Cicadellidae). Further we were able to identify homologous organs in the closely related spittlebug Philaenus spumarius (Cicadomorpha: Cercopoidea: Aphrophoridae) and the planthopper Issus coleoptratus (Fulgoromorpha: Fulgoroidea: Issidae). The configuration is congruent with the abdominal chordotonal organs in cicadas, where one of them is an elaborate tympanal organ. This indicates that these organs, together with the tymbal organ constitute a synapomorphy of the Tymbalia (Hemiptera excl. Sternorrhyncha). Our results contribute to the understanding of the evolution from substrate-borne to airborne communication in insects. Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2022.0078 VL - 18 IS - 4 ER -