Abstract Auchenorrhyncha (leafhopper) faunas of a series of experimental plots of different successional age were recorded by vacuum sampling. There were clear successional trends in the assemblages. The life‐history strategy of the dominant species changed during succession; the mobile and multivoltine or bivoltine species, which overwinter as adults or nymphs, are replaced by less active, univoltine or bivoltine species which overwinter as eggs. Leafhopper assemblages clearly responded to the changes in plant species composition and vegetation structure during succession; however, disentangling the relative importance of the various factors requires further experimental manipulation.