Phylogeny and biogeography of the wingless orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae.

Cave crickets (Rhaphidophoridae) are insects of an ancient and wingless lineage within Orthoptera that are distributed worldwide except in Antarctica, and each subfamily has a high level of endemicity. Here, we show the comprehensive phylogeny of cave crickets using multi-gene datasets from mitochondrial and nuclear loci, including all extant subfamilies for the first time. We reveal phylogenetic relationships between subfamilies, including the sister relationship between Anoplophilinae and Gammarotettiginae, based on which we suggest new synapomorphies. Through biogeographic analyses based on divergence time estimations and ancestral range reconstruction, we propose novel hypotheses regarding the biogeographic history of cave crickets. We suggest that Gammarotettiginae in California originated from the Asian lineage when Asia and the Americas were connected by the Bering land bridge, and the opening of the western interior seaway affected the division of Ceuthophilinae from Tropidischiinae in North America. We estimate that Rhaphidophoridae originated at 138 Mya throughout Pangea. We further hypothesize that the loss of wings in Rhaphidophoridae could be the result of their adaptation to low temperatures in the Mesozoic era.

A new species of the Chaoborus flavicans complex (Diptera, Chaoboridae) in South Korea.

Using reverse taxonomy and morphological analyses, this study describes a new species belonging to the C. flavicans species complex in the Korean Peninsula, Chaoborus pseudoflavicans Bang & Shin sp. nov. Descriptions of the new species from larvae to adults are provided, and the key to the C. flavicans species complex is updated accordingly. DNA barcodes (COI partial sequences) are shown to be sufficient for molecular identification in the C. flavicans species complex. Finally, the taxonomic accounts of all species in the C. flavicans complex are completely resolved for the first time.