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The Nearctic leafhopper species Gyponana (Gyponana) mali DeLong, 1942 isreported from Europe for the fi rst time and represents the fi rst record of the tribe Gyponini Stål, 1870 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Iassinae: Gyponini) for the Palearctic Region. Specimens were collected in southern Switzerland (Ticino) and two regions of northern Italy (Lombardy and Veneto) in 2015–2019. The preferred host plant in these areas appears to be Cornus sanguinea L. Phylogenetic analysis of the COI barcode sequences grouped one of the European specimens with three individuals of G. (G.) mali from Ontario, Canada. Morphological study indicated that the male genitalia of the European population are intermediate between G. (G.) mali and G. (G.) extenda DeLong, 1942. 

Abstract Phytoplasmas (Mollicutes,Acholeplasmataceae), vector‐borne obligate bacterial plant parasites, infect nearly 1,000 plant species and unknown numbers of insects, mainly leafhoppers (Hemiptera, Deltocephalinae), which play a key role in transmission and epidemiology. Although the plant–phytoplasma–insect association has been evolving for >300 million years, nearly all known phytoplasmas have been discovered as a result of the damage inflicted by phytoplasma diseases on crops. Few efforts have been made to study phytoplasmas occurring in noneconomically important plants in natural habitats. In this study, a subsample of leafhopper specimens preserved in a large museum biorepository was analyzed to unveil potential new associations. PCR screening for phytoplasmas performed on 227 phloem‐feeding leafhoppers collected worldwide from natural habitats revealed the presence of 6 different previously unknown phytoplasma strains. This indicates that museum collections of herbivorous insects represent a rich and largely untapped resource for discovery of new plant pathogens, that natural areas worldwide harbor a diverse but largely undiscovered diversity of phytoplasmas and potential insect vectors, and that independent epidemiological cycles occur in such habitats, posing a potential threat of disease spillover into agricultural systems. Larger‐scale future investigations will contribute to a better understanding of phytoplasma genetic diversity, insect host range, and insect‐borne phytoplasma transmission and provide an early warning for the emergence of new phytoplasma diseases across global agroecosystems.