Review of the genus Qinshuiacris (Orthoptera: Acrididae) from China with proposal of Caryanda viridis-species group and description of a new species.

Based on an examination of type and additional material, Qinshuiacris viridis Zheng & Mao, 1996 and some allied species in the genus Caryanda are reviewed. Q. viridis Zheng & Mao, 1996 is transferred to Caryanda as a new combination: C. viridis (Zheng & Mao, 1996) comb. nov.. The female of C. viridis is described for the first time and sixty-two topotypes are designated. The genus Qinshuiacris Zheng & Mao, 1996 is synonymized with Caryanda Stål, 1878 because of the transfer of the type species. C. yini Mao & Ren, 2006 is proposed as a new junior synonym of C. dehongensis Mao, Xu & Yang, 2003. A new species, C. eshana Mao sp. nov., is also described and illustrated. Additionally, the conception of the Caryanda viridis-species group is proposed to contain the four allied species with falciform cerci: C. albomaculata Mao, Ren & Ou, 2007, C. dehongensis Mao, Xu & Yang, 2003, C. eshana Mao sp. nov., and C. viridis (Zheng & Mao, 1996) comb. nov.. A key to the species of C. viridis-species group is provided. Type specimens are deposited in the Biological Science Museum, Dali University (BMDU), Yunnan Province, China, in the Institute of Zoology, Shaanxi Normal University (IZSNU), Shaanxi Province, China and in the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China (IZCAS).

Complete mitochondrial genome of Gomphocerus sibiricus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) and comparative analysis in four Gomphocerinae mitogenomes.

The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Gomphocerus sibiricus, consisting of 15,590 bp, was determined and analyzed. It displays typical genome organization found in other Caelifera mitogenomes: 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, two ribosomal RNA genes and one A+T rich region. In this paper, we focused on the comparative analyses of mitogenomes from four Gomphocerinae taxa to find characteristics of nucleotide composition and overlapping and non-coding regions. In addition, we compared variable sites in the structure of 22 tRNAs and two rRNAs, and differences in some common conserved elements of A+T rich regions. Furthermore, we analyzed phylogenetic relationships of 12 Caelifera species using maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) based on two different datasets from mitogenomes. Our results reveal that G. sibiricus has a close relationship with Gomphocerus licenti of the four Gomphocerinae taxa examined in these analyses.

A comparative analysis of mitochondrial genomes in Orthoptera (Arthropoda: Insecta) and genome descriptions of three grasshopper species.

The complete sequences of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the three new grasshopper species, Euchorthippus fusigeniculatus, Mekongiana xiangchengensis and Mekongiella xizangensis, consisting of 15772 bp, 15567 bp, and 15885 bp, respectively, were analyzed and compared to mtDNAs from other 19 Orthoptera species obtained from GenBank. The three mitochondrial genomes contain a standard set of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes, 2 ribosomal RNA genes. and an A+T-rich region in the same order as those of the other analyzed caeliferan species, but different from those of the ensiferan species by the rearrangement of trnD and trnK. The putative initiation codon for the cox1 gene is ATC in E. fusigeniculatus, CTG in M. xiangchengensis and CCG in M. xizangensis. All secondary structures of tRNA-Ser((AGN)) in the three species lack a DHU arm. In this study, we stressed the comparative analysis of the stem-loop secondary structure in A+T-rich region of all Orthoptera species available to date, and report new findings which may facilitate further investigation and better understanding of this secondary structure. Finally, we undertook a phylogenetic study of all Orthoptera species available from GenBank to date based on three different datasets using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. Our result showed that protein-coding genes (PCG) and amino acid sequences (PCG_PROT) provided good resolution of higher-level relationships within the Orthoptera, whereas ribosomal RNA genes (RIBO) perform poorly under different optimality criteria.

Mitochondrial genomes of three Tetrigoidea species and phylogeny of Tetrigoidea.

The mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of Formosatettix qinlingensis, Coptotettix longjiangensis and Thoradonta obtusilobata (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Tetrigoidea) were sequenced in this study, and almost the entire mitogenomes of these species were determined. The mitogenome sequences obtained for the three species were 15,180, 14,495 and 14,538 bp in length, respectively, and each sequence included 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), partial sequences of rRNA genes (rRNAs), tRNA genes (tRNAs) and a A + T-rich region. The order and orientation of the gene arrangement pattern were identical to that of most Tetrigoidea species. Some conserved spacer sequences between trnS(UCN) and nad1 were useful to identify Tetrigoidea and Acridoidea. The Ka/Ks value of atp8 between Trachytettix bufo and other four Tetrigoidea species indicated that some varied sites in this gene might be related with the evolution of T. bufo. The three Tetrigoidea species were compared with other Caelifera. At the superfamily level, conserved sequences were observed in intergenic spacers, which can be used for superfamily level identification between Tetrigoidea and Acridoidea. Furthermore, a phylogenomic analysis was conducted based on the concatenated data sets from mitogenome sequences of 24 species of Orthoptera in the superorders Caelifera and Ensifera. Both maximum likelihood and bayesian inference analyses strongly supported Acridoidea and Tetrigoidea as forming monophyletic groups. The relationships among six Tetrigoidea species were (((((Tetrix japonica, Alulatettix yunnanensis), Formosatettix qinlingensis), Coptotettix longjiangensis), Trachytettix bufo), Thoradonta obtusilobata).

Two new species of the genus Gibbotettix Zheng, 1992 (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae, Cladonotinae) from China.

Taxonomy of a tetrigid genus Gibbotettix Zheng is reviewed. Two new species, Gibbotettix serrifemurus sp. nov. and Gibbotettix parvipulvillus sp. nov. are described from China.The distribution and an updated identification key to all known species of the genus are given.

DNA barcoding reveals polymorphism in the pygmy grasshopper Tetrix bolivari (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae).

Many pygmy grasshopper species exhibit colour-marking polymorphism. However, this polymorphism in some species, such as Tetrix bolivari, is almost unknown. The aim of this work is to identify using DNA barcoding the colour-marking polymorphic morphs of this pygmy grasshopper species collected from both grass and sand microhabitats. Analysis by NJ clustering and pairwise distances indicated that all specimens collected showing colour-marking polymorphism are species of Tetrix bolivari. Haplotype network construction showed ten different haplotypes from a total of 57 Tetrix bolivari individuals with H1(82.5%) being the most common type and it also displayed low divergence within Tetrix bolivari population. The haplotype analyses were consistent with the NJ clustering. Our field census showed the frequency of Tetrix bolivari morphs differed significantly, with the rank order of morphs (from high to low) typeA1, type B1, type A2, type A3, type A4, type A5, type A6, type A7, type B2, type B3, and type B4. The most common type A morphs were without contrasting markings, while the rarer type B morphs have contrasting white markings. We suggest that type B morphs have greater camouflage effects against natural backgrounds such as grass or sand than type A morphs. Both our field census and haplotype analysis revealed that type A has higher frequency and more haplotypes than type B.

Complete mitochondrial genome of the groundhopper Erianthus versicolor (Orthoptera: Caelifera: Eumastacoidea).

The complete mitochondrial genome of Erianthus versicolor was determined. It was 15,397 bp in length and contained 73.94% AT. The gene order of tRNA(Asp) (D) and tRNA(Lys) (K) is reversed to K-D order; a trnF-like and a trnS(UCN)-like sequences are present almost in the same positions with trnF and trnS(UCN); the AT content of the A + T-rich region was low, only 59.97%.

The groundhopper fauna (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) of Shiwanshan (Guangxi, China) with description of three new species.

This paper deals with 7 subfamilies, 30 genera and 82 species of Tetrigidae from Shiwanshan, Guangxi in China. Among them three new species of the subfamily Metrodorinae are described, namely Mazarredia convexaoides Deng & Zheng sp. nov., Mazarredia shiwanshanensis Deng & Zheng sp. nov. and Bolivaritettix shiwanshanensis Deng & Zheng sp. nov. Also, new synonyms are presented: Miriatroides quadrivertex Zheng & Jiang, 2002 syn.nov. is synonymized with Spadotettix hainanensis Günther, 1939, thus genus Miriatroides Zheng & Jiang, 2002 with the genus Spadotettix Hancock, 1910. Finally, brief comments on faunistic characters of Tetrigidae from Shiwanshan are given.

[Researches on C-banding karyotypes of two species of Genus Eotmethis].

The chromosome C-banding technique has been employed in studying C-karyotypes of two grasshoppers species of Genus Eotmethis from Pamphagidae, namely, E. tiantsuensis and E. jintaiensis which are only distributed in Northwest China. Spermatogenous mitotic metaphases and primary spermatocyte meiotic metaphases (metaphase 1) of two species are analyzed. The main points of results are as follows. Either basic numbers of chromosomes (2n male symbol) and karyotypes formulae or centromeres location of two species are coincident with the preceding studies. These provide a further backing for the karyotype stability in the Pamphagidae. The corresponding values of chromosome relative length are closer between E. tiantsuensis and E.jintaiensis, and there are no obvious differences in their total C-heterochromatin contents, No.3, 4, 9 and X chromosomes of both species have showed larger and darkly stained acrocentric C-bands, and No.2 chromosomes of both species have consistently showed a distinct mid-stained interstitial C-band proximal to the median of chromosome. The above-metioned facts reflect a close relation between the two species in their systematic development. In addition, the differences in the C-banding patterns between two species are reflected more or less in No.1, No.7 and No.8 chromosomes, especially obvious variations in the size and stained degree of acrocentric C-blocks of corresponding No.7 and No.8 chromosomes between the two species.

Two new species of the genus Teredorus Hancock, 1906 (Orthoptera, Tetrigidae) from China, with a key to the species of the genus.

Taxonomy of a tetrigid genus Teredorus Hancock is reviewed. Two new species, Teredorus parvipulvillus sp. n. and Teredorus hunanensis sp. n. are described from China and an updated identification key to all known species of the genus is given, as well as brief comments on phylogenetic relationships, biology and ecology.

The complete mitochondrial genomes of three grasshoppers, Asiotmethis zacharjini, Filchnerella helanshanensis and Pseudotmethis rubimarginis (Orthoptera: Pamphagidae).

The complete mitogenomes of Asiotmethis zacharjini, Filchnerella helanshanensis and Pseudotmethis rubimarginis are 15,660 bp, 15,657 bp and 15,661 bp in size, respectively. All three mitogenomes contain a standard set of 13 protein - coding genes, 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs) and an A+T-rich region in the same order as those of the other analysed caeliferan species, including the rearrangement of trnAsp and trnLys. The putative initiation codon for the cox1 gene in the three species is CCG. The long polythymine stretch (T-stretch) in the A+T-rich region of the three species is not adjacent to the trnIle but inside the stem-loop sequence in the majority strand. The mitogenomes of F. helanshanensis and P. rubimarginis have higher overall similarities. The characterization of the three mitogenomes will enrich our knowledge on the Pamphagidae mitogenome. The phylogenetic analyses indicated that within the Caelifera, Pyrgomorphoidea is a sister group to Acridoidea. The species from the Pamphagidae form a monophyletic group, as is the case for Acrididae. Furthermore, the two families cluster as sister groups, supporting the monophyly of Acridoidea. The relationships among eight acridid subfamilies were (Cyrtacanthacridinae+(Calliptaminae+(Catantopinae+(Oxyinae+(Melanopline+(Acridinae+(Oedipodinae+Gomphocerinae).

Phylogeny and classification of the Catantopidae at the tribal level (Orthoptera, Acridoidea).

The grasshopper family Catantopidae is a well-known group, whose members include some of the most notorious agricultural pests. The existing classifications of the family are mostly utilitarian rather than being based on phylogenetic analysis and therefore unable to provide the stability desired for such an economically important group. In the present study, we present the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the family based on morphology. By extensively sampling from the Chinese fauna, we included in the present analysis multiple representatives of each of the previously recognized tribes in the family. In total, we examined 94 genera represented by 240 species and evaluated 116 characters, including 84 for external morphology and 32 for male genitalia. The final matrix consists of 86 ingroup taxa and 88 characters. Our phylogenetic analyses resulted in a high resolution of the basal relationships of the family while showed considerable uncertainty about the relationships among some crown taxa. We further evaluated the usefulness of morphological characters in phylogeny reconstruction of the catantopids by examining character fit to the shortest trees found, and contrary to previous suggestions, our results suggest that genitalia characters are not as informative as external morphology in inferring higher-level relationship. We further suggest that earlier classification systems of grasshoppers in general and Catantopidae in particular most probably consist of many groups that are not natural due the heavy reliance on genitalia features and need to be revised in the light of future phylogenetic studies. Finally, we outlined a tentative classification scheme based on the results of our phylogenetic analysis.