The Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Germany (Hemiptera, Auchenorrhyncha): Patterns and Strategies in a Highly Diverse Group of Phytophagous Insects

H. Nickel, Pensoft Publishers Sofia-Moscow; Goecke & Evers, Keltern, 2006, 460 pp., $67.00, ISBN 3-931374-09-2 Herbert Nickel’s “The Leafhoppers and Planthoppers of Germany” summarizes results of the author’s many years of study on the fauna of Auchenorrhyncha (leafhoppers and planthoppers) of central Europe. Auchenorrhyncha is one of the most rich and ecologically important groups of insects in terrestrial ecosystems. The group includes ≈43,000 species (Oman and Sailer 1986) from ≈30 families. The most recently published check list of Auchenorrhyncha (Nast 1987) comprises data on 1,771 species known from Europe. Almost all Auchenorrhyncha are obligatory phytophages. They are very diverse in different habitats. Species of the group can be found on herbs, shrubs, and trees; nymphs of cicadas and some planthoppers live underground feeding on plant roots, and a few species are known to feed on the fungal mycelia. Some Auchenorrhyncha are important agricultural pests, damaging plants not only directly by sup-sacking but also mostly by transmission of viral and mycoplasmal diseases. Having high biomass compared with other arthropod groups, Auchenorrhyncha play important roles in terrestrial food webs.