The family Fulgoridae is a large group of hemipteran insects, especially abundant and diverse in the tropics, containing over 125 genera worldwide. They are mostly of moderate to large size, many with a superficial resemblance to Lepidoptera due to their brilliant and varied coloration. Various genera and species (especially the genera Fulgora and Pyrops) are sometimes referred to as lanternflies or lanthorn flies.

The head of some species is produced into a hollow process, resembling a snout, which is sometimes inflated and nearly as large as the body of the insect, sometimes elongated, narrow and apically upturned. It was believed, mainly on the authority of Maria Sibylla Merian, that this process, the so-called lantern, was luminous at night in the living insect. Carl Linnaeus adopted the statement without question and coined a number of specific names, such as laternaria, phosphorea and candelaria to illustrate the supposed fact, and thus propagated the myth.

Taxonomy: Metcalf in 1938, as amended in 1947, recognized five subfamilies (Amyclinae, Aphaeninae, Fulgorinae, Phenacinae, and Poiocerinae) and twelve tribes in the Fulgoridae. By 1963 Lallemand had divided the Fulgoridae into eight subfamilies (Amyclinae, Aphaeninae, Enchophorinae, Fulgorinae, Phenacinae, Poiocerinae, Xosopharinae and Zanninae) and eleven tribes. This classification was generally accepted.

However, 21st century molecular analysis has called into question the organization of Fulgoridae, and suggests that the subfamily Zanninae may not belong in Fulgoridae.

Subfamilies and selected genera: The NCBI and the Hemiptera Database currently include to the following sub-families and genera (lists complete if subfamily not linked):

Notes:

• Laternaria is a suppressed senior synonym of Pyrops
• Pyrilla Stål, 1859 is now placed in the Lophopidae
• The type species of genus Apossoda, A. togoensis Schmidt, 1911 is now placed as Pyrgoteles togoensis (Schmidt, 1911)