SUCCESSIONAL LEAFHOPPER ASSEMBLAGES - PATTERN AND PROCESS

Auchenorrhyncha (leafhopper) faunas of a series of experimental plots of different successional age were recorded by vacuum sampling. There were dear successional trends in the assemblages. The life-history str ategy of the dominant species changed during succession; the mobile an d multivoltine or bivoltine species, which overwinter as adults or nym phs, are replaced by less active, univoltine or bivoltine species whic h overwinter as eggs. Leafhopper assemblages dearly responded to the c hanges in plant species composition and vegetation structure during su ccession; however, disentangling the relative importance of the variou s factors requires further experimental manipulation.