Exploring the Mitogenomes of Mantodea: New Insights from Structural Diversity and Higher-Level Phylogenomic Analyses.

The recently reorganized classification of Mantodea has made significant progress in resolving past homoplasy problems, although some relationships among higher taxa remain uncertain. In the present study, we utilized newly sequenced mitogenomes and nuclear gene sequences of 23 mantid species, along with published data of 53 mantises, to perform familial-sampling structural comparisons of mantodean mitogenomes and phylogenomic studies. Our rstructural analysis revealed generally conserved mitogenome organizations, with a few cases of tRNA gene rearrangements, including the detection of trnL2 duplication for the first time. In our phylogenetic analysis, we found a high degree of compositional heterogeneity and lineage-specific evolutionary rates among mantodean mitogenomes, which frequently corresponded to several unexpected groupings in the topologies under site-homogeneous models. In contrast, the topologies obtained using the site-heterogeneous mixture model fit the currently accepted phylogeny of Mantodea better. Topology tests and four-cluster likelihood mapping analyses further determined the preferred topologies. Our phylogenetic results confirm the monophyly of superfamilial groups Schizomantodea, Amerimantodea, Heteromantodea, Promantidea, and Mantidea and recover the early-branching relationships as (Mantoidoidea + (Amerimantodea + (Metallyticoidea + Cernomantodea))). Additionally, the results suggest that the long-unresolved phylogenetic position of Majangidae should be placed within Mantidea, close to Mantoidea, rather than within Epaphroditoidea. Our findings contribute to understanding the compositional and structural diversity in mantodean mitogenomes, underscore the importance of evolutionary model selection in phylogenomic studies, and provide new insights into the high-level phylogeny of Mantodea.

Mitochondrial Phylogenomics Suggests Complex Evolutionary Pattern of Pronotal Foliaceous Mimicry in Hierodulinae (Mantodea: Mantidae), with Description of a New Species of Rhombodera Burmeister, 1838 from China.

Hierodulinae is a species-rich mantid subfamily, with some species bearing a notable leaf-like pronotum. However, the evolutionary pattern and taxonomic significance of the leaf-like pronotum are largely unknown. Here, we present a phylogenomic analysis of the Hierodulinae genera Rhombodera Burmeister, 1838, and Hierodula Burmeister, 1838 based on mitochondrial genomes. We also describe a new species, namely Rhombodera hyalina sp. nov. from Guangxi, China. Our phylogenetic result, together with the evidence from male genitalia, suggests the division of the Oriental Hierodula and Rhombodera complex into three clades. We find a complex pattern on the evolution of the leaf-like pronotum, which is present in at least five lineages, respectively, of the above three clades.

Complete mitochondrial genomes of four species of praying mantises (Dictyoptera, Mantidae) with ribosomal second structure, evolutionary and phylogenetic analyses.

Praying mantises are distributed all over the world. Though some Mantodea mitogenomes have been reported, an evolutionary genomic and phylogenetic analysis study lacks the latest taxonomic system. In the present study, four new mitogenomes were sequenced and annotated. Deroplatys truncate, D. lobate, Amorphoscelis chinensis and Macromantis sp. belong to Deroplatyidae, Amorphoscelidae and Photinaidae family, respectively. Our results indicated that the ATP8 gene may be lost in D. truncate and D. lobata mt genome, and four tRNA genes have not been found in D. truncate, D. lobata and Macromantis sp. A dN/dS pair analysis was conducted and it was found that all genes have evolved under purifying selection. Furthermore, we tested the phylogenetic relationships between the eight families of the Mantodea, including 35 species of praying Mantis. Based on the complete mitochondrial genome data, it was also suggested as sister to Deroplatyidae + Mantidae, Metallyticus sp., the only representative of Metallyticidae, is sister to the remaining mantises. Our results support the taxonomic system of Schwarz and Roy and are consistent with previous studies.

Taxonomic revision of the praying mantis subfamily Hierodulinae of China (Mantodea: Mantidae).

Species known from China in the praying mantis subfamily Hierodulinae are revised. A new species, Titanodula menglaensis sp. nov. is described. Hierodula tenuidentata Saussure, 1869 and Dracomantis mirofraternus Shcherbakov Vermeersch, 2020 are newly recorded from China. Two new synonyms are proposed: Titanodula formosana (Giglio-Tos, 1912) = Titanodula fruhstorferi (Werner, 1916), syn. nov. and Hierodula macrodentata Wang, Zhou Zhang, 2020 = Hierodula latipennis Brunner de Wattenwyl, 1893. Ootheca and male genitalia of the Chinese species are described and photographed. An identification key to genera and species of Hierodulinae from China is also provided. The current Chinese checklist contains 21 species.

Characterization of the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Asiadodis yunnanensis (Mantidae: Choeradodinae) and phylogenetic analysis.

The complete mitochondrial genome of the praying mantises Asiadodis yunnanensis was characterized in this study. The circular molecule is 15,416 bp in length (GenBank accession no. MN037794), containing 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. The nucleotide composition is asymmetric (39.5% A, 15.1% C, 9.6% G, 35.8% T), with an overall A + T content of 75.3%. The gene arrangement of A. yunnanensis is identical to that observed in other praying mantises. Seven PCGs are initiated with typical ATN start codons, Four genes (cox1, nad3, nad4L, and nad6) begin with TTN, nad1 begin with GTT, and nad5 use CTT, as initiation codon. Twelve PCGs stop with complete termination codon TAA and TAG, whereas nad5 uses incomplete termination codon (T--). Twenty reading frame overlaps and seven intergenic regions are found in the mitogenome of A. yunnanensis. The phylogenetic relationships based on 13 PCGs show that A. yunnanensis clusters closest to the species of Mantidae.