TY - JOUR

T1 - Molecular phylogenetic analysis and taxonomy of the Palearctic Pamphagidae grasshoppers (Orthoptera, Acridoidea) based on DNA markers

AU - Sukhikh, Igor

AU - Bugrov, Alexander

AU - Chobanov, Dragan

AU - Fet, Victor

AU - Biryukov, Mikhail

AU - Blinov, Alexander

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - Achieving a commonly accepted phylogeny of the grasshopper family Pamphagidae proves to be challenging using only morphology-based analysis. So far, discussions about status and phylogenetic placement of taxa within this family did not yield a clear picture of evolutionary history of the Pamphagidae. However, a large amount of DNA sequences has been amassed in the available databases, offering a good opportunity to utilize molecular methods to clarify phylogenetic relationships among the Pamphagidae. Analyzing sequences of two mitochondrial genes, COI and COII, we constructed a new phylogenetic tree for three (out of five) subfamilies of the Pamphagidae. Total of 83 Pamphagidae species were used in the analysis. These subfamilies form six clades; while most species fall into their recognized genera and tribes, the relationships between some tribes and subfamilies fail to concur with a currently accepted phylogeny. Our data suggest a separate position of the tribe Tropidauchenini as opposed to the rest of the subfamily Pamphaginae, while the tribe Nocarodeini appears to represent a higher taxonomic rank than a tribe, which might suggest its possible position as subfamily. The current paper is the first step on a road to a comprehensive phylogenetic study of the Pamphagidae family. The differences in commonly accepted classification compared to our data suggests that further study is necessary to uncover true evolutionary story of this complex family of Orthoptera insects.

AB - Achieving a commonly accepted phylogeny of the grasshopper family Pamphagidae proves to be challenging using only morphology-based analysis. So far, discussions about status and phylogenetic placement of taxa within this family did not yield a clear picture of evolutionary history of the Pamphagidae. However, a large amount of DNA sequences has been amassed in the available databases, offering a good opportunity to utilize molecular methods to clarify phylogenetic relationships among the Pamphagidae. Analyzing sequences of two mitochondrial genes, COI and COII, we constructed a new phylogenetic tree for three (out of five) subfamilies of the Pamphagidae. Total of 83 Pamphagidae species were used in the analysis. These subfamilies form six clades; while most species fall into their recognized genera and tribes, the relationships between some tribes and subfamilies fail to concur with a currently accepted phylogeny. Our data suggest a separate position of the tribe Tropidauchenini as opposed to the rest of the subfamily Pamphaginae, while the tribe Nocarodeini appears to represent a higher taxonomic rank than a tribe, which might suggest its possible position as subfamily. The current paper is the first step on a road to a comprehensive phylogenetic study of the Pamphagidae family. The differences in commonly accepted classification compared to our data suggests that further study is necessary to uncover true evolutionary story of this complex family of Orthoptera insects.

KW - Pamphagidae grasshoppers

KW - mitochondrial genes COI and COII

KW - phylogeny

KW - systematics

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/f92e22f3-225e-31eb-b607-f9b7fb850b51/

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85218800403&origin=inward&txGid=af72aa6bfbf082e6daad6ca850e1e431

U2 - 10.1163/1876312X-BJAI0072

DO - 10.1163/1876312X-BJAI0072

M3 - Article

JO - Insect Systematics and Evolution

JF - Insect Systematics and Evolution

SN - 1876-312X

ER -