Inventory of the Auchenorrhyncha (Insecta: Hemiptera) of the GSMNP, with emphasis on the most diverse leafhopper subfamily, Typhlocybinae

This project builds upon previous ones directed at documenting the Auchenorrhyncha (leafhoppers, treehoppers, cicadas, spittlebugs, and planthoppers) of Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).   Previous studies primarily used bulk collected insect samples (malaise traps) and some collections targeted for Auchenorrhyncha, and these documented nearly 300 species in the Park.  The current project calls for more-targeted collecting which has proven to be effective in detecting species not found in the bulk samples.  The project also calls for the documentation of the largest and most taxonomically difficult group of Auchenorrhyncha, the leafhopper subfamily Typhlocybinae.  We estimate that about ~500 species of typhlocybine leafhoppers occur in GSMNP and about half of those can be documented given the current samples and proposed sampling in 2009.  These records in combination with other new records of Auchenorrhyncha from this study can double the number of Auchenorrhyncha currently documented from GSMNP.