Molecular phylogeny of North American band-winged grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acrididae)

A molecular phylogenetic study of representatives of North American Oedipodinae, the band-winged grasshoppers, was performed to clarify their taxonomic relationships and questions regarding their origins. Portions of 2 mitochondrial genes, cyt b and 16S ribosomal RNA, were sequenced and subjected to parsimony, neighbor-joining and maximum likelihood analyses. A single tree was recovered in the parsimony search, largely identical to those obtained using the other procedures. The following clades emerged: A (Metator + Trachyrhachys), B (Camnula + (Arphia conspersa + A, pseudonietana)); C (Dissosteira + (Circotettix + (Spharagemon collare + (Trimerotropis + Spharagemon campestris)))); and D (Encoptolophus + Chortophaga). Assemblages A and D are consistent with established genus groups using traditional characters. Cluster D is basal to an Oedipodinae examined. Relationships among A, B, and C could not be resolved. Molecular data supported a previously held belief that Spharagemon campestris McNeill is more closely affiliated with Trimerotropis than with a congener. Circotettix, currently regarded as a member of the genus group Bryodema, is placed within another genus group, Sphingonotus, in accordance with earlier opinions. Phylogenetic analyses, in examining the possibility that North American Oedipodinae are monophyletic, support the contrary view. Finally, the data suggest that the taxonomic status of the subfamily itself is uncertain, given the relationships among its members and a species from another subfamily.