Species Separation within, and Preliminary Phylogeny for, the Leafhopper Genus with Particular Reference to the Putative British Endemic (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae).

The subfamily Aphrodinae (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) contains ~33 species in Europe within four genera. Species in two genera in particular, and , have proved to be difficult to distinguish morphologically. Our aim was to determine the status of the putative species , found only on the RSPB Nature Reserve at Dungeness, Kent, a possible rare UK endemic. DNA from samples of all seven UK species (plus from the Czech Republic) were sequenced using parts of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and 16S rRNA genes. Bayesian inference phylogenies were created. Specimens of each species clustered into monophyletic groups, except for , and . Two specimens grouped with repeatedly with strong support, and the remaining clustered within . Genetic distances suggest that and are a single interbreeding population (0% divergence), while and diverged by only 0.28%. Shared haplotypes between , and strongly suggest interbreeding, although misidentification may also explain these topologies. However, all clustered together in the trees. A conservative approach might be to treat , until other evidence is forthcoming, as a possible endemic subspecies.