Species delimitation in the Andean grasshopper genusOrotettix Ronderos & Carbonell (Orthoptera: Melanoplinae): an integrative approach combining morphological, molecular and biogeographical data

Abstract

The reciprocal illumination nature of integrative taxonomy through hypothesis testing, corroboration and revision is a powerful tool for species delimitation as more than one source has to support the hypothesis of a new species. In this study, we applied an integrative taxonomy approach combining molecular and morphological data sets with distributional patterns to examine the level of differentiation between and within the grasshopper Orotettix species. Orotettix was described based on five valid species distributed in the Andes of Peru. In our study, initially a molecular-based hypothesis was postulated and tested against morphological data and geographical patterns of distribution. Results from molecular and morphological analyses showed agreement among the species delimitation in Orotettix, and were also consistent with the geographical distribution. The analyses allowed us to delimit five new species for the genus (O. lunatus sp. nov., O. astreptos sp. nov., O. colcaensis sp. nov., O. paucartambensis sp. nov. and O. dichrous sp. nov.) from the Eastern and Western Cordilleras of Peru. We also provide critical knowledge on the phylogenetic relationships and distribution of the genus and conduct a revision of Orotettix.

Unraveling the diversification history of grasshoppers belonging to the “Trimerotropis pallidipennis”(Oedipodinae: Acrididae) species group: a hotspot of biodiversity in the Central Andes

“…In birds, the species of the genus Muscisaxicola , a primarily Andean group of tyrant-flycatchers, appear to have diversified during the Middle and Late Pleistocene ( Chesser, 2000 ). Among insects, several grasshopper species show signs of recent diversification in the North and Central Andes ( Cigliano & Amedegnato, 2010 ; Cigliano et al, 2010 ; Cigliano, Pocco & Lange, 2011 ; Pocco et al, 2013 ; Pocco et al, 2015 ). The Trimerotropis pallidipennis species complex is a group of amphitropical band-winged grasshoppers widely distributed in arid and semiarid regions of the Americas, from southwestern Canada to southern Argentina ( Otte, 1984 ; Husemann et al, 2013 ).…”

“…Interestingly, these authors pointed that the group of Peruvian specimens from the Andean Puna of Cusco and Ancash—taxonomically assigned to T. andeana —was apparently composed of an admixture of two or more distinct biological units, and further proposed that these lineages could be undergoing a differentiation process. Indeed, a recent survey of grasshoppers in this area revealed high levels of endemism and numerous species new to science ( Cigliano, Pocco & Lange, 2011 ; Pocco et al, 2013 ; Pocco et al, 2015 ).…”

Integrative taxonomy reveals cryptic diversity in neotropical grasshoppers: taxonomy, phylogenetics, and evolution of the genus Sphenarium Charpentier, 1842 (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphidae)

“…In those two studies, the taxonomic delimitations were based on the analysis of fewer specimens and populations than this study . Moreover, Pedraza-Lara et al (Pedraza-Lara et al 2015) based their species delimitations on few ambiguous and variable morphological characters; and used General Mixed Yule-Coalescent methods that tend to estimate a greater diversity than other approaches (Fujisawa & Barraclough 2013;Pocco et al 2015;Talavera et al 2013).…”

“…These kinds of incongruences have been observed in other groups of closely related and recently diverged lineages (e. g al. 2014;López et al 2007;Pocco et al 2015). High levels of morphological divergence associated to low levels of genetic differentiation between taxa can be explained by incomplete linage sorting due to genetic drift and/or gene flow (e.g.…”

Discriminating species of Sinipta Stål (Orthoptera: Acrididae) from Uruguay based on morphological, ethological and molecular data

“…Molecular methods are used to ratify the identity of S. dalmani and S. hectorisperonii as distinct species. Combined methodologies (Pocco et al 2015) have been successfully applied in similar circumstances for different animal groups (Pilgrim et al 2002;Puillandre et al 2010;Tan et al 2010;Ghielmi et al 2016). In Orthoptera, for instance, sound production and acoustic behavior (Riede 1987;Lorier 1996;Ragge & Reynolds 1998;García et al 2003;Clemente et al 2012), the morphology of the stridulatory apparatus (Pitkin 1976;Clemente et al 1989;García et al 1995García et al , 2005Clemente et al 2012) and molecular methods were used as a framework to identify the phylogenetic relationships between taxa and to evaluate the species status (Blanchet et al 2010(Blanchet et al , 2012Husemann et al 2013;Rouibah et al 2016).…”