A new species of the genus Sulcohumpacris Yin, Yin et Cao, 2017 (Orthoptera, Acridoidea, Pamphagidae) from China.

A new species of the genus Sulcohumpacris Yin, Yin et Cao, 2017 i.e. Sulcohumpacris wuanensis sp. nov. is described in this paper from China. The new species is similar to Sulcohumpacris hebeiensis Yin, Yin et Cao, 2017 but differs from latter by median keel of pronotum cut by hind sulcus slightly, tegmen of male cover 2/3 tympanum, length of Krauss' organ 1.8 times of width in female, apex of subgenital plate of male point, cercus of male narrow at base, lower margin of Epiphallus with large projection in the middle and hind knee of female not curved at lower margin. Type specimens are deposited in the College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China.

Diversity of the gut microbiome in three grasshopper species using 16S rRNA and determination of cellulose digestibility.

BACKGROUND: Grasshoppers are typical phytophagous pests, and they have large appetites with high utilization of plants fibers, the digestion of which may depend on the microorganisms in their intestines. Grasshoppers have the potential to be utilized in bioreactors, which could improve straw utilization efficiency in the future. In this study, we describe the gut microbiome in three species of grasshoppers, Oedaleus decorus asiaticus, Aiolopus tamulus and Shirakiacris shirakii, by constructing a 16S rDNA gene library and analyzed the digestibility of cellulose and hemicellulose in the grasshoppers by using moss black phenol colorimetry and anthrone colorimetry. RESULTS: There were 509,436 bacterial OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units) detected in the guts of all the grasshoppers sampled. Among them, Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the most common, Aiolopus tamulus had the highest bacterial diversity, and Shirakiacris shirakii had the highest bacterial species richness. The intestinal microflora structure varied between the different species of grasshopper, with Aiolopus tamulus and Shirakiacris shirakii being the most similar. Meanwhile, the time at which grasshopper specimens were collected also led to changes in the intestinal microflora structure in the same species of grasshoppers. Klebsiella may form the core elements of the microflora in the grasshopper intestinal tract. The digestibility of cellulose/hemicellulose among the three species grasshoppers varied (38.01/24.99%, 43.95/17.21% and 44.12/47.62%). LEfSe analysis and Spearman correlation coefficients showed that the hemicellulosic digestibility of Shirakiacris shirakii was significantly higher than that of the other two species of grasshopper, which may be related to the presence of Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, Glutamicibacter, Corynebacterium, and Brachybacterium in Shirakiacris shirakii intestinal tract. CONCLUSION: The intestinal microbial communities of the three grasshoppers species are similar on phylum level, but the dominant genera of different species grasshoppers are different. The cellulose digestibility of the three species of grasshoppers is relatively high, which may be correlated with the presence of some gut microbiome. Increasing the understanding of the structure and function of the grasshopper intestinal microflora will facilitate further research and the utilization of intestinal microorganisms in the future.

Comparative analysis of mitogenomes among six species of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Catantopidae) and their phylogenetic implications in wing-type evolution.

The degree of wing development has a close relationship with insects' movement ability and range, and it should also be closely related to mitochondrial-related genes. The complete mitochondrial genomes of six species of Catantopidae were sequenced, annotated and analyzed. Then, combined with 37 mitogenomes of grasshoppers, the ratio of nonsynonymous substitution to synonymous substitution (Ka/Ks) of the combined sequences of protein coding genes (PCGs) was calculated by DnaSP5, and the phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed by maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian (BI) methods based on PCGs+rRNAs. The results showed that the sizes of the six complete mitogenomes are Stenocatantops mistshenkoi Willemse F., 1968, 15,573 bp; Traulia lofaoshana Tinkham, 1940, 15,645 bp; Sinopodisma rostellocerca You, 1980, 15,622 bp; Anapodisma miramae Dovnar-Zapolskij, 1932, 15,189 bp; Qinlingacris elaeodes Yin & Chou, 1979, 15,221 bp; and Eozubovskya planicaudata Zhang & Jin, 1985, 15,830 bp; their structures are the same as those of Acridoidea. The AT bias of the wing-degenerated group (lobiform and apterous) is higher than that of the longipennate group, and more nonsynonymous substitutions accumulated in the wing-degenerated group than in the longipennate group (P = 0.000), which indicates that the wing-degenerated group has undergone weaker evolutionary selection than the longipinnate group. The phylogenetic tree shows that the wing-degenerated group in the Catantopidae are multiorigin and present parallel evolution.

A new species and key to all known species of Confusacris Yin Li, 1987 (Orthoptera: Acrididae) from China.

A new species of the genus Confusacris Yin Li, 1987, namely i.e. Confusacris shanxiensis sp. nov. is described in this paper from Shanxi province of China. The new species is similar to Confusacris brachypterus Yin Li, 1987 but differs from the latter by tegmen of male extending over middle of hind femur distinctly, maximum width of cubital vein area 1.5 times median vein area, furculae large, epiphallus without acute projection on both sides and length of interspace of mesosternum1.6 times minimum width in female. A key to known species of the genus Confusacris Yin Li, 1987 is given in this paper. The type specimens are deposited in the College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China.

A new species of the genus Criotettix Bolivar (Orthoptera:Tetrigoidea:Scelimenidae) from Zhejiang, China.

A new species of the genus is described from Zhejiang, China in this paper. The new species Criotettix zhejiangensis sp. nov. is similar to Criotettix strivertexoides Zheng, Wei Li, 2009, but differs in antennae placed the lower margin of eye, head exserted above the pronotal surface, lateral keels in prozona slightly contracted backward, upper margin of pronotum not waved in lateral view, width of tegmen 1.2 times width of mid leg femur and lower side of hind femur not black. The new species is also similar to Criotettix strivertex Zheng, Wei Li, 2009, it differs from latter by head exserted above the pronotal surface, upper margin of pronotum not waved in lateral view, lower side of mid femur straight, width of tegmen 1.2 times width of mid leg femur and length of hind femur 3.1 times its width. The type specimens are deposited in the College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China.

A new species of the genus Bryodemella (s. str.) Yin, 1982 from China (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Oedipodidae).

A new species (i.e. Bryodemella (s. str.) rufifemura sp. nov. from China is described in this paper. It is similar to Bryodemella (s. str.) diamesum (Bei-Bienko, 1930), but differs from the latter by red inner side of hind femur, median keel of pronotum indistinct in metazoan, and vertical diameter of eye shorter than subocular groove in female.  The type specimens are deposited in the Museum of Hebei University (MHU), China.

Application of DNA Barcoding in the Classification of Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)-A Case Study of grasshoppers from Hebei Province, China.

Grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) are the main pests in agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry, and some species of grasshoppers can cause serious disaster. Taxonomy is the basis of pest control. Traditional morphological identification is time-consuming and laborious. It may be due to the existence of cryptic species or the limited number of morphologists, making the identification extremely unstable. In recent years, with the development of molecular systematics, DNA barcoding technology has been applied to environment, ecology, quarantine and so on. This study focuses on testing the feasibility of DNA barcoding in the species identification for superfamily Acridoidea. Sequences of the cox1 gene were obtained from 245 individuals of 43 species of Acridoidea and one species of Tetrigoidea as outgroup from Hebei Province. Phylogenetic, genetic distance and sequence difference threshold analyses using the Maximum Likelihood (ML), Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD) and Molecular Defined Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTU) methods, respectively, were performed for obtained sequences and the 139 additional sequences of 21 species downloaded from GenBank. The results have shown that 40, 33, and 35 species among the 48 species are consistent with the traditional morphological classification based on the phylogenetic tree, ABGD and MOTU results, respectively and the DNA barcoding technology is very efficient and helpful for identifying the species of the superfamily Acridoidea; however, the morphological approach is still playing a key role in the species identifications. It also indicates that the cox1 gene is suitable for the phylogeny of genera and species level, but it is not suitable for the phylogenetic relationship of the advanced taxa such as families.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Sinotmethis brachypterus Zheng & Xi, 1985 (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Pamphagidae: Prionotropisinae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Sinotmethis brachypterus Zheng & Xi, 1985, which was collected from the Gansu Province of China, is reported here. It is 15,662 bp in length and contains 72.6% AT. All Sinotmethis brachypterus protein-coding sequences start with a typical ATN codon, excluding cox1 and nad6. The usual termination codon (TAN) and incomplete stop codons (T, TA) were found from 13 protein-coding genes. All tRNA genes could be folded into the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, excluding trnS(AGN) which forms another structure. The sizes of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1320 and 852 bp, respectively. The AT content of the A + T-rich region is 84.2%.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Humphaplotropis culaishanensis sp. nov. (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Pamphagidae: Pamphaginae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Humphaplotropis culaishanensis sp. nov., which was collected from the Shandong Province of China, is reported here. It was 15,659 bp in length and contained 72.3% AT. All Humphaplotropis culaishanensis protein-coding sequences started with a typical ATN codon, excluding cox1 and nad6. The usual termination codon (TAN) and incomplete stop codons (T, TA) were found from 13 protein-coding genes. All tRNA genes could be folded into the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, excluding trnS(AGN) which forms another structure. The sizes of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes were 1322 and 852 bp, respectively. The AT content of the A+T-rich region was 81.3%.

Two new species and key to four species of the genus Humphaplotropis from China (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae, Pamphaginae).

Two new species i.e.: Humphaplotropis xiai sp. nov. and Humphaplotropis hebeiensis sp. nov. of the genus Humphaplotropis Xiao, Yin et Yin, 2013, are described from Hebei and Jiangsu, China in this paper. The new species Humphaplotropis xiai sp. nov. differs all known species of the genus by the abdomen like sawtooth in lateral view. The new species Humphaplotropis hebeiensis sp. nov. is similar to Humphaplotropis culaishanensis Lin, Cao et Yin, 2014, but differs from the latter by: lateral carinae of frontal ridge parallel; anterior margin of pronotum with acute angular in the middle, the apex reaching the hind margin of eyes; tegmina wider, cover 4/5 tympanum. Hind tibia yellow brown on upper side; epiphallus with 44 spikes, ancorae oblique inward distinctly, both posterior projections shorter than median projection. Type specimens are deposited in the Shanghai Entomological Museum, C.A.S., Shanghai and Natural Museum of Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei China respectively.

Two new species of the genus Eotmethis (Orthoptera, Acridoidea, Pamphagidae) from China.

Two new species of the genus Eotmethis Bey-Bienko, 1948, namely Eotmethis xiai sp. nov., and Eotmethis platyverticus sp. nov. from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Gansu province are described in this paper. The new species Eotmethis xiai sp. nov. is allied to E. recipennis Xi & Zheng, 1986, but differs from latter by the vertical diameter of eye about 1.2 times as long as horizontal diameter, prozona of pronotum equal to metazona, tegmina of female shorter, reaching 2nd abdominal tergite only. The new species Eotmethis platyverticus sp. nov. is allied to E. holanennis Zheng & Gow, 1981, but differs from latter by width of vertex between eyes 2 times diameter of eye and prozona of pronotum longer than metazoan in female. The type specimens are deposited in College of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, China.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Asiotmethis jubatus (Uvarov, 1926) (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Pamphagidae).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Asiotmethis jubatus (Uvarov, 1926), which was collected from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, is reported here. It is 15,669 bp in length and contains 72.3% AT. All Asiotmethis jubatus protein-coding sequences start with a typical ATN codon, excluding cox1 and nad6. The usual termination codon (TAN) and incomplete stop codons (T) were found from 13 protein-coding genes. All tRNA genes could be folded into the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, excluding trnS(AGN) which forms another structure. The sizes of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1315 and 852 bp, respectively. The AT content of the A + T-rich region is 81.9%.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Filchnerella beicki Ramme, 1931 (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Pamphagidae).

Abstract The complete mitochondrial genome of Filchnerella beicki Ramme, 1931, which was collected from the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China, is reported here. It is 15,658 bp in length and contains 72.3% AT. All Filchnerella beicki protein-coding sequences start with a typical ATN codon, excluding cox1. The usual termination codon (TAN) and incomplete stop codons (T) were found from 13 protein-coding genes. All tRNA genes could be folded into the typical cloverleaf secondary structure, excluding trnS(AGN) which forms another structure. The sizes of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1315 and 853 bp, respectively. The AT content of the A+T-rich region is 83.1%.