Molecular data provide new insights into the phylogeny of Cladonotinae (Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea) from China with the description of a new genus and species

Abstract

<jats:p>Considerable effort has been devoted to elucidating the phylogenetic relationships of tetrigides. However, there is still no commonly accepted phylogenetic hypothesis. Therefore, the phylogenetic relationships among some subfamilies remain unclear; e.g., Cladonotinae is a controversial group, in which the phylogenetic relationships between genera and the boundaries of some of the included genera are unclear, causing some of the taxa to be difficult to identify. Therefore, an in-depth phylogenetic analysis of Cladonotinae is urgently needed. In this study, a robust phylogenetic framework for the tetrigides was reconstructed based on the combined mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI), 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA), and nuclear 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene sequences of 25 species belonging to 16 genera of Tetrigoidea from China, which included 13 species from 8 genera of Cladonotinae. Phylogenetic inferences were performed using the combined dataset and Bayesian inference (BI) and Maximum Parsimony (MP) methods, and the phylogenetic tree of Cladonotinae was reconstructed. All inferences based on the results of the present study supported the Cladonotinae subfamily as a polyphyletic group; within the Cladonotinae subfamily, Tetradinodula, and Tuberfemurus were closely related to Tetriginae, while Austrohancockia and Gibbotettix showed a close relationship to the Scelimenidae subfamily. Additionally, a new genus and new species of the Cladonotinae subfamily are described and illustrated: Hainantettix Deng, gen. nov. and Hainantettix strictivertex Deng, sp. nov. </jats:p>

Mitochondrial genomes of eight Scelimeninae species (Orthoptera) and their phylogenetic implications within Tetrigoidea

“…Tetriginae was monophyletic in all analyses with current species and the subfamily was the more recently diverged group. This was also supported by previous phylogenetic studies ( Jiang, 2000 ; Fang et al, 2010 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). In addition, the results from four trees showed that S. spicupennis of Metrodorinae clustered near the clade Tetriginae, Bolivaritettix lativertex was closely related to C. japonicus of Scelimeninae.…”

The complete chloroplast genome of Saussurella borneensis (Orthoptera: Tetrigoidea) from China and its phylogenetic analysis

“…tonkinensis occupied the most basal position, followed by the second branch, S. borneensis , which was positioned as a sister group to the remaining Tetrigoidea (posterior probability, PP = 1). These data, suggesting that T. tonkinensis is the earliest species within Tetrigoidea, followed by S. borneensis , which was consistent with the results of the molecular phylogenetic analyses conducted by earlier study showing that S. borneensis is an earlier species within Tetrigoidea (Zhang et al 2020 ). Moreover, sixteen tetrigid species were grouped in a clade with strong support (PP = 1), which suggested Tetrigidae is monophyletic.…”

“…This subfamily currently contains 3 tribes and 25 known genera worldwide; the genus Saussurella Bolivar includes twelve species endemic to Southeast Asia (Deng 2016 ; Zha et al 2020 ). However, there is little information on the systematic position of S. borneensis within the Tetrigidae (Zhang et al 2020 ). To date, no mitochondrial sequence has been reported for the Batrachidinae (NCBI, last visited on May 2021).…”

Lepocranus and Valalyllum gen. nov. (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae, Cladonotinae), endangered Malagasy dead-leaf-like grasshoppers

“…This diverse and polyphyletic family includes altogether 314 species assigned to 74 genera ( Cigliano et al 2022 ). Most genera require revision and are not adequately classified in the Tetrigidae system ( Zhang et al 2020 ). Within the subfamily Cladonotinae , several monophyletic tribes exist, such as Caribbean Choriphyllini ( Choriphyllum Serville, 1838 and Phyllotettix Hancock, 1902), African Xerophyllini (including leaf-like Acmophyllum Karsch, 1890, Seyidotettix Rehn, 1938, Trypophyllum Karsch, 1890, Xerophyllum Fairmaire, 1846), and Asian Cladonotini ( Hymenotes Westwood, 1837, Holoarcus Hancock, 1909, Dolatettix Hancock, 1907).…”