Phylogeny, biogeography and ecological diversification of the Oriental cicadas in the tribe Platypleurini (Hemiptera, Cicadidae)

Abstract The cicada tribe Platypleurini, characterized by a remarkably flattened body, is distributed mainly in the Afrotropical and Oriental regions with a few species also occurring in the eastern Palearctic Region. Prior phylogenetic analyses revealed polyphyly among Oriental genera, and phylogeny and phylogeographical patterns of related ‘sibling’ species remain unclear. Here we investigated the phylogenetic relationships of representative platypleurines and population differentiation of two Oriental species using molecular data combined with genomic data of their obligate endosymbionts Karelsulcia and Hodgkinia . We revealed that platypleurines and Karelsulcia exhibit congruent phylogenies at both the species and population levels, and that Karelsulcia has undergone continuous genomic erosion, manifested as varying degrees of pseudogenization. The phylogeny of Hodgkinia also reflects that of platypleurines, and its genomes underwent further splitting and expansion concomitant with the diversification of host cicadas. The initial divergence of Platypleurini and that of the major Afrotropical and Asian lineages were ca. 44.58 Ma and ca. 37.27 Ma, respectively, corresponding to the initial collision between the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate during the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene. We established Asianopleura gen. nov . , reassigned Eopycna coelestia to Neoplatypleura and described E. autumnalis sp. nov . Both E. repanda and N. coelestia comb. nov . diverged into distinct phylogroups during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene, indicating that contemporaneous geological activities and climatic oscillations acted as pivotal drivers in the diversification of these mountain specialists. This study yields novel insights into ecological diversification of Platypleurini and co‐evolutionary dynamics between cicadas and associated endosymbionts.