Ledrinae, an ancient group of leafhoppers with unusual morphology, is diverse and distributed worldwide but its phylogeny remains largely unexplored. The status and relationships among genera of the largest tribe, Ledrini, are here explored using maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses of DNA sequence data from mitochondrial genomes and partial nuclear genes acquired for 50 species representing 18 genera, plus outgroups from other cicadellid subfamilies. General features of the sequenced mitogenomes are summarized and compared. A novel and stable genetic rearrangement, with large gene spacers and irregular anticodons occurs in the 9 sequenced mitogenomes of Midoria species, and the possible mechanism that gave rise to this change is discussed. This is the first instance of several species of a single leafhopper genus sharing a unique mitochondrial gene rearrangement. Such arrangements appear to be very unusual among leafhoppers and may be of value for future phylogenetic research on this group. We used different data sets and methods to construct a phylogenetic analysis of Ledrini. Results indicated that neither mitogenome nor nuclear gene fragment data adequately resolves phylogenetic relationships within the group but combining them provides a more robust phylogeny of Ledrini. In general, phylogenetic analyses support treatment of Petalocephalini as a junior synonym of Ledrini and support the monophyly of most included genera, although Destinoides, Ledropsis, and Petalocephala appear to be paraphyletic. In addition, 4 new genera and 20 new species are also described and illustrated based on the phylogenetic results and morphological characteristics.

Graphical Abstract