Highly divergent karyotypes and barcoding of the East African genus Gonatoxia Karsch (Orthoptera: Phaneropterinae).

East Africa is a hotspot of biodiversity of many orthopteran taxa, including bushcrickets. Gonatoxia Karsch, 1889 species are fully alate Phaneropterinae, which are perfectly adapted to the foliage of forests. We examined five species using combined cytogenetic and molecular data to determine the inter- and intraspecific genetic diversity. The variation in the diploid number of chromosomes in males ranged from 2n = 28 + X0 and 26 + X0 to 2n = 6 + X0. Fluorescence in situ hybridization showed from one to many 18S rDNA loci as well as interstitial sequences, especially in G. helleri. 18S rDNA loci coincided with active NOR and C-banding patterns. The isolation of populations of the species explains differences in the number of chromosomes (G. maculata), chromosomal polymorphism and chromosomal heterozygosity (G. helleri). Our molecular phylogeny based on the COI locus supported the monophyly of the genus Gonatoxia and separateness of the five examined species in accordance with their morphological features and chromosome numbers as well as the species' distribution.

Congruence between the prioritisation of conservation problems at the local and national scale: an evaluation by environmental scientists in Poland.

The anthropogenic pressure on the environment depends on the spatial scale. It is crucial to prioritise conservation actions at different spatial scales to be cost-efficient. Using horizon scanning with the Delphi technique, we asked what the most important conservation problems are in Poland at local and national scales. Twenty-six participants, PhD students, individually identified conservation issues important at the local and national scales. Each problem was then scored and classified into broader categories during the round discussions. Text mining, cross-sectional analyses, and frequency tests were used to compare the context, importance scores, and frequency of identified problems between the two scales, respectively. A total of 115 problems were identified at the local scale and 122 at the national scale. Among them, 30 problems were identical for both scales. Importance scores were higher for national than local problems; however, this resulted from different sets of problems identified at the two scales. Problems linked to urbanisation, education, and management were associated with the local scale. Problems related to policy, forestry, and consumerism were more frequent at the national scale. An efficient conservation policy should be built hierarchically (e.g. introducing adaptive governance), implementing solutions at a national scale with the flexibility to adjust for local differences and to address the most pressing issues.

Diversification of the Balloon bushcrickets (Orthoptera, Hexacentrinae, Aerotegmina) in the East African mountains.

East African mountains constitute a network of isolated habitat islands among dry savannah and are thus ideal for studying species diversification processes. This study elucidated the phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships of all bushcricket species comprising the genus Aerotegmina. Our analysis indicated that large-scale climatic and topographic processes in Africa are likely to have driven speciation in this group, and revealed the cytogenetic traits of the species. Molecular phylogeny supported the monophyly of Aerotegmina and showed that the genus probably originated in the old Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania and Kenya. Two lineages were distinguished: small- and large-sized species with geographically distinct habitats. The underlying processes are thought to be eight dispersals, ten vicariance events, and one extinction event linked to repeated fragmentation of the African rainforest. Those processes, in conjunction with habitat change, probably also led to the spatial separation of the species into a northern clade with a diploid number of chromosomes 2n = 32 + X0 or 2n = 30 + neo-XY and a southern clade with a reduced number of chromosomes (2n = 28 + X0 or 24 + neo-X1X2Y). Karyotype analysis suggests that Aerotegmina is currently in the process of speciation.

A taxonomic outline of the Poecilimon affinis complex (Orthoptera) using the geometric morphometric approach.

The genus Poecilimon contains 145 species, widely distributed in the Palaearctic, among which the Poecilimon ornatus group has the greatest diversity in the Balkans. Despite several revisions of the genus, the systematics of the species group, and in particular, of the taxa associated with the species Poecilimon affinis, is still unsolved. Due to morphological similarity, P. affinis with its subspecies, P. nonveilleri and P. pseudornatus form the Poecilimon affinis complex. The aim of this study is to test the hypotheses of an outlined species complex, namely the P. affinis complex, within the P. ornatus group using morphological data. Geometric analysis was conducted to explore variation in the structure of the male tegmen, ovipositor, male cercus, and male pronotum. The number of teeth and stridulatory file measurements provided additional information on morphological variation within the complex. A phylogenetic tree based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI) was used for comparison with the morphological data. Canonical variate analysis showed that male tegmen and male cercus are good morphostructures to distinguish the taxa belonging to the P. affinis complex from other species in the P. ornatus group. This may confirm our assumption for the designation of the P. affinis complex. The results of the principal component analysis of stridulatory file measurements, molecular data, and CVA of the ovipositor suggest adding two additional species to the complex: P. ornatus and P. hoelzeli.

New insights into the karyotype evolution of the genus Gampsocleis (Orthoptera, Tettigoniinae, Gampsocleidini).

Five species belonging to the genus Gampsocleis Fieber, 1852 were analyzed using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with 18S rDNA and telomeric probes, as well as C-banding, DAPI/CMA3 staining and silver impregnation. The studied species showed two distinct karyotypes, with 2n = 31 (male) and 2n = 23 (male) chromosomes. The drastic reduction in chromosome number observed in the latter case suggests multiple translocations and fusions as the main responsible that occurred during chromosome evolution. Two groups of rDNA distribution were found in Gampsocleis representatives analyzed. Group 1, with a single large rDNA cluster on the medium-sized autosome found in four species, carried in the haploid karyotype. Group 2, represented only by G.abbreviata, was characterized by the presence of two rDNA signals. TTAGG telomeric repeats were found at the ends of chromosome arms as expected. The rDNA clusters coincided with active NORs and GC-rich segments.