BACKGROUND: Euholognatha is a monophyletic group within stoneflies comprised by a superfamily Nemouroidea and a family Scopuridae. Based on morphological data, the family-level phylogenetic relationships within Euholognatha are widely accepted, but there is still controversy among different molecular studies. To better understand the phylogeny of all six extant euholognathan families, we sequenced and analyzed seven euholognathan mitogenomes. RESULTS: The sequence heterogeneity analysis observed a low degree of compositional heterogeneity in euholognathan mitogenomes. Meanwhile, leuctrid mitogenomes were more heterogeneous than other euholognathan families, which may affect the phylogenetic reconstruction. Phylogenetic analyses with various datasets generated three topologies. The Leuctridae was recovered as the earliest branching lineage, and the sister relationship of Capniidae and Taeniopterygidae was supported by most tree topologies and FcLM analyses. When separately excluding sparsely sampled Scopuridae or high heterogeneity leuctrid taxa, phylogenetic analyses under the same methods generated more stable and consistent tree topologies. Finally, based on the results of this study, we reconstructed the relationships within Euholognatha as: Leuctridae + (Scopuridae + ((Taeniopterygidae + Capniidae) + (Nemouridae + Notonemouridae))). CONCLUSION: Our research shows the potential of data optimizing strategies in reconstructing phylogeny within Euholognatha and provides new insight into the phylogeny of this group.
Genome, Mitochondrial , Insecta , Humans , Animals , Insecta/genetics , Genome, Mitochondrial/genetics , Phylogeny , Base Sequence , Neoptera
We examined Chinese stonefly specimens of the Rhopalopsolevietnamica 'western assemblage' group. A new species from Hainan Province, R.bawanglinga Li, Li & Yang, sp. nov. is described and illustrated from male and female adults, and it is compared to closely related taxa. The hitherto unknown female of R.hainana Li & Yang, 2010 is described. Morphological evidence is presented for the identity of R.dentiloba Wu, 1973, on the basis of topotypes from Yunnan Province, southwestern China.
Habaek koreanus gen. n., sp. n., a remarkable new Perlodinae is described from adults of both sexes, collected by Malaise traps in South Korea. On the basis of male characters, it is assigned to the tribe Perlodini, but its tribal classification needs to be clarified by characters of the larva and matured eggs. Affinities of the new genus are discussed, and a key is presented for the males of the Perlodini genera.
Neoptera , Animals , Female , Male , Neoptera/classification , Republic of Korea , Animal Distribution
Intraspecific morphological variability of four Styloperla Wu, 1935 species are described and discussed in this paper. The males of each species have variable specializations present at their basal cercal process, including the variable number of branches or differing degrees of curvature at the apical spines. A generalization on the species definition of Plecoptera, especially a new concept of conspecificity is also provided herein.
Insecta , Neoptera , Male , Animals , Animal Distribution
Currently, information on the biology of Plecoptera from China is scarce, particularly on mating behavior. In this paper, the existence of mating mistakes (erroneous mating attempts) involving 13 Chinese stonefly species (belonging to nine genera and three families) is reported. These erroneous mating behaviors can be included into three different categories: mating attempts between conspecific males (including the formation of erroneous mating balls), mating attempts between different taxa (including displacement attempts during copulation), and mating-related behaviors with non-living objects. From these behaviors, some aspects of stoneflies during mating, such as the physical competition between males, the sensorial mechanisms implied in triggering a mating behavior, the conditions favoring the mating mistakes, and the possible consequences of interspecific mating in the hybrid production, are discussed.
The type species of Filchneria Klapálek, 1908, F. mongolica (Klapálek, 1901), is based on a single female collected from Mongolia, but it was considered the same as another species, F. songi from Qinling, China, when the genus Filchneria was proposed. This study narrates the story of these two species, which have been confused for a century. Until now, the distribution of F. mongolica has been confirmed only in Mongolia and Russia, and we recently recorded it for the first time in Inner Mongolia as a new species record in China. Additionally, the genus Sinoperlodes is a junior synonym of Filchneria, as demonstrated by both the morphological and molecular analysis. Phylogenetic analysis based on the subfamily Perlodinae is provided, along with morphological and biogeographic comparisons of Filchneria and its relatives.
Taeniopterygidae is a medium-sized family of stoneflies. The phylogeny of Taeniopterygidae was widely accepted based on the morphological analyses. However, there are different opinions based on molecular data. To date, only two taeniopterygid mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) were available, and more sampling is needed to obtain precise phylogenetic relationships. In this research, the Strophopteryx fasciata mitogenome was sequenced and analyzed. The complete mitogenome of S. fasciata was 15,527 bp in length and contained 37 genes and a non-coding control region. Among taeniopterygid mitogenomes, the length variation was minimal in protein-coding genes (PCGs), transfer RNA genes (tRNAs) and ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), but very different in the control region. Similar to mitogenomes of other taeniopterygid species, the S. fasciata mitogenome was consistently AT biased and displayed positive AT- and negative GC-skews of the whole mitogenome. Most PCGs used ATN as the start codon and TAA/TAG as the stop codon. The stop codons were far less variable than the start codons in taeniopterygid mitogenomes. All Ka/Ks ratios were less than 1, indicating the presence of purifying selection in these genes. The secondary structures of transfer and ribosomal RNA genes of S. fasciata mitogenome are highly conserved with other taeniopterygid species. In the control region of the S. fasciata mitogenome, some essential elements (tandem repeats, stem-loop structures, and poly-N stretch, etc.) were observed. Two phylogenetic trees were inferred from Bayesian inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods generated the identical topology across the PCGR dataset. The relationships of five families in Nemouroidea were recovered as Leuctridae + ((Capniidae + Taeniopterygidae) + (Nemouridae + Notonemouridae)). These results will help us understand the mitogenome structure of taeniopterygid species and the evolutionary relationship within Plecoptera.
Genome, Mitochondrial , Animals , Bayes Theorem , Genome, Mitochondrial/genetics , Insecta/genetics , Phylogeny , RNA, Ribosomal/genetics , RNA, Transfer/genetics
Background: An investigation report of stonefly fauna in Benxi Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning Province, northeast China (used to be called Manchuria, now includes Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang Provinces and parts of Inner Mongolia, which are adjacent to the Russian Far East and the Korean Peninsula). Materials were studied with field observation in 2018 and 2019. New information: This paper records five families, nine genera and 14 species of stoneflies from Taizi River, Liaoning Province. Nine species have been recorded for the first time in China and the biology of several common species is also reported for the first time.
Two poorly known species of Kamimuria Klapálek, 1907, K. simplex (Chu, 1929) and K. tienmushanensis Wu, 1938, are redescribed and newly recorded for Mt. Wuyi, Fujian. Kamimuria cheni Wu, 1948 and K. crassispina Wu, 1948 are removed from the species list of Fujian. The morphological variability of K. tienmushanensis from different locations is also discussed in this paper.
Insecta , Neoptera , Animals , Animal Distribution , China
A new stonefly of the perlid genus Hemacroneuria Enderlein, 1909, H. kondratieffi sp. nov., is described and illustrated and compared with related congeners on the basis of both sexes from Shennongjia National Park, Hubei Province of central China. Hemacroneuria elongata is new for Yunnan Province. An unidentified male for Yunnan Province is also provided with color images.
Insecta , Neoptera , Female , Male , Animals , China , Animal Distribution
Three species of the Neoperlamontivaga group are described from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China, including two new species, N.falcatata sp. nov. and N.shangsiensis sp. nov., and a new record for Guangxi: N.bilineata Wu & Claassen, 1934. Illustrations and color images are provided for the three species mentioned above, and the new species is compared with related congeners in the group. Notes on the distribution of the Neoperla species known from Guangxi are also given.
Known Plecoptera data published from Azerbaijan are critically reviewed. New records of 28 species are enumerated on the basis of specimens collected between 2017 and 2019, among them 16 are new for the fauna of Azerbaijan. Nemoura irani Aubert, 1964 is new for the whole Caucasian region, Leuctra sanainica Zhiltzova, 1960 and Plesioperla sakartvella (Zhiltzova, 1956) are new for the Greater Caucasus. The female and larva of an unknown Protonemura Kempny, 1898 species, collected in the Talysh Mts, are illustrated and described under temporary name Protonemura sp. AZE-1. A new species of Protonemura, collected both in the Azerbaijan and Georgian areas of the Greater Caucasus, will be formally described in a further paper. A male Protonemura specimen was found to be infected by mermithid worms, morphological lesions are illustrated and commented; this is the second documented case of mermithid infection in stoneflies. Subspecies level identity of Azerbaijani populations of Leuctra fusca (Linnaeus, 1758) proved to be problematic, morphological characters of the specimens are illustrated. Synonymy of Isoperla caucasica Balinsky, 1950 and I. pulchra Balinsky, 1950 under I. bithynica (Kempny, 1908) is disputed, the two names are combined under I. grammatica (Poda, 1761) sensu lato.
Neoptera/classification , Animals , Azerbaijan , Female , Larva , Male , Neoptera/parasitology
The genus Amphinemura belongs to the family Nemouridae (Plecoptera) and has 205 species in the Holarctic and Oriental Regions. We sequenced the fourth complete mitochondrial genome of A. bulla Shimizu, 1997. The mitogenome is 15,827 bp long with 37 genes plus a control region with an A + T content of 68.9%. There are 10 intergenic spacers (75 bp total) and 13 gene overlaps (43 bp total). All protein-coding genes (PCGs) use normal initiation codons, except ND1 and ND5 which begin with TTG and GTG. Two PCGs (COII and ND5) use a single T as a partial termination codon. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Nemoura and Amphinemura were sister group resulting in a paraphyletic Amphinemurinae different from the morphological classification.
The family-level relationships within Plecoptera have been a focused area of research for a long time. Its higher classification remains unstable, and the phylogenetic relationships within Plecoptera should be re-examined. Here, we sequenced and analyzed two complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of Paraleuctra cercia and Perlomyia isobeae of the family Leuctridae. We reconstructed the phylogeny of Plecoptera based on 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) from published stoneflies. Our results showed that the Bayesian inference and maximum-likelihood tree had similar topological structures except for the positions of two families, Peltoperlidae and Scopuridae. The Plecoptera is divided into two clades, the suborder Antarctoperlaria and the suborder Arctoperlaria. The two suborders subsequently formed two groups, Eusthenioidea and Gripopterygoidea, and Euholognatha and Systellognatha, which is consistent with the results of morphological studies. In addition, the Leuctridae is the earliest branch within the superfamily Nemouroidea. But the monophyly of Perloidea and Pteronarcyoidea are still not well supported.
Genome, Mitochondrial , Insecta/classification , Insecta/genetics , Animals , Classification , Phylogeny
This study examines the rate of female answers to conspecific versus heterospecific male vibratory calls in three, closely related stonefly species: Zwicknia bifrons, Z. acuta, and Z. rupprechti. In a previous study those three species were recognized on the basis of their distinct male drumming calls along with differences in genital morphology and genetic divergence. During this study no-choice playback experiments using original male call samples from each species were performed, and the answer rate of females to conspecific and heterospecific signal variants was measured. Mixed effect logistic regression models were used to test if male call species identity had a statistically significant effect on female answer probability. Females answered conspecific male calls with significantly higher probability than heterospecific calls in all the three examined species, suggesting that the divergence of vibrational communication can be an important component of the prezygotic isolation between them. Low, but well detectable responsiveness to heterospecific calls was observable between Z. bifrons and Z. acuta, the two species closest to each other regarding mitochondrial genetic divergence and male call pattern similarity. Thus, our results are most congruent with a tight, gradual coevolution of male calls and female preferences.
Insecta/physiology , Taxis Response , Vibration , Vocalization, Animal , Animals , Female , Male , Species Specificity
Two new species of the genus Amphinemura in the sinensis species group, A. retusilobata sp. n. and A. simifleurdelia sp. n. are proposed from Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China, based on adults of both sexes. The new species are compared to related taxa and distribution map for the A. sinensis group is given.
Insecta , Neoptera , Animal Distribution , Animals , China , Female , Male
A new species of the Oriental Perlidae genus Neoperlops Banks, 1939, Neoperlops triangulatus sp. nov. is described from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of southern China. Neoperlops gressitti Banks, 1939 is redescribed, and recorded from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region for the first time. Neoperlops huanghuye (Chen, 2020) comb. n., recently described from Fujian Province from southeastern China, is transferred from Phanoperla Banks, 1938. The six species of the genus are classified in two groups of morphologically similar species.
Insecta , Neoptera , Animal Distribution , Animals , China
A new species of the genus Protonemura Kempny, 1898 (Plecoptera: Nemouridae: Amphinemurinae) is described from the Ishizuchi Range of Shikoku Island, Japan, based on the male, female and Co1 sequences. Protonemura shimizui Murányi Gamboa sp. n. belongs to the P. orbiculata species group sensu Shimizu, 1998. The new species appears to be limited to the higher elevations of the Ishizuchi Range. Faunistic survey of the high elevation rheocrenes of the Ishizuchi Range is also presented.
Insecta , Neoptera , Animal Distribution , Animals , Female , Japan , Male
A remarkable new genus and species of Nemourinae, Sinonemura balangshana gen. et sp. n., is described from Balang Mountains, Sichuan, southwestern China. The description is based on morphology and molecular data. The Nemourinae genera related to the new taxon are re-evaluated on the basis of comparative functional morphology of male epiproct. Notes on the Asian distribution of the Nemourinae are also given.
Insecta/classification , Neoptera/classification , Phylogeny , Animal Distribution , Animals , China , Classification/methods , Demography , Female , Genetic Speciation , Head/anatomy & histology , Head/growth & development , Insecta/anatomy & histology , Insecta/growth & development , Male , Neoptera/anatomy & histology , Neoptera/growth & development , Species Specificity , Wings, Animal/anatomy & histology , Wings, Animal/growth & development
A remarkable new species of the genus Kiotina Klapálek, 1907 is described, K. bilobata sp. nov. both from Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces of China. The taxonomic relationships with related species are discussed in this paper.
Insecta , Animal Distribution , Animals , China , Neoptera
