About the Tymbal website.
The Tymbal website exists to share information about Auchenorrhyncha, a group of insects that has traditionally included leafhoppers, cicadas, froghoppers, spittlebugs and planthoppers (see below). The aim of the website is to aid international scientific cooperation in the study of this group of organisms.
What is "Auchenorrhyncha"?
The term Auchenorrhyncha is applied to a group of organisms once thought to be closely related. However the introduction of molecular techniques (Sorenson et al. 1995, Campbell et al. 1995), coupled with traditional morphological analysis (Ross, et al. 1984, Bourgoin 1986 and onwards) has shown that, while the leafhoppers (Membracoidea), cicadas (Cicadoidea) and froghoppers and spittlebugs (Cercopoidea) appear to form a monophyletic group, the planthoppers (Fulgoroidea), are more closely related to the Heteroptera. The Suborder name Fulgoromorpha has been adopted for the planthoppers while the remaining "Auchenorrhyncha" have been grouped under the Suborder Cicadomorpha. The other Hemiptera Suborders are the Sternorrhyncha (aphids, scales, whiteflies, lerps and their relatives), which is the sister group to all other Hemiptera and Prosorrhyncha (Heteroptera + Peloridioidea). However, Yoshizawa & Saigusa (2001) have found support for the monophyly of the Auchenorrhyncha in the structures of the forewing base and Cryan (2005) has also found molecular evidence supporting this.
Whether "Auchenorrhyncha" is accepted as a valid group phylogenetically or not, it still retains a practical use in linking researchers who work on planthoppers with their most closely affiliated colleagues.
The Tymbal Logo
The Tymbal logo above was first published by Frej Ossiannilsson (1949) on the front cover of his landmark publication "Insect Drummers" which was the first to record and analyse the sounds made by leafhoppers and froghoppers. The logo was adopted by Mike Wilson. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, for the Tymbal newsletter of which he was Editor from 1983 to 1994 and which evolved into this website in 1999.
REFERENCES
Bourgoin, T. (1986) Valeur morphologique de la lame maxillaire chez les Hemiptera; remarques phylogénétiques. Annals de la Société Entomologique de France, N.S. 22(4): 413-422.
Campbell, B.C., Steffen-Campbell, J.D., Sorenson, J.T. and Gill, R.J. (1995). Paraphyly of Homoptera and Auchenorrhyncha inferred from 18S rDNA nucleotide sequences. Systematic Entomology 20: 175-194.
Cryan, J.R., (2005) Molecular phylogeny of Cicadomorpha (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cicadoidea, Cercopoidea and Membracoidea): adding evidence to the controversy. Systematic Entomology 30(4): 563-574.)
Ossiannilsson F (1949) Insect Drummers. A study on the morphology and function of the sound-producing organ of Swedish Homoptera Auchenorrhyncha. Opuscula entomologica. Supp 10: 1-146.
Ross, H.H., Ross, C.A. & Ross, J.R.P. (1984) A Texbook of Entomology. 4th Ed. Wiley Interscience Publication. Chichester. 666pp.
Sorenson, J.T., Campbell, B.C., Gill, R.J. and Steffen-Campbell, J.D. (1995). Non-monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha ('Homoptera'), based upon 18S rDNA phylogeny: eco-evolutionary and cladistic implications within pre-Heteropterodea Hemiptera (s.l.) and a proposal for new, monophyletic suborders Pan-Pacific Entomologist 71: 31-60.
Yoshizawa K and Saigusa T, 2001. Phylogenetic analysis of paraneopteran orders (Insecta: Neoptera) based on forewing base structure, with comments on monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha (Hemiptera). Systematic Entomology 26(1): 1-13.