... 2010 doi: 10.1664/09-RA-009R.1. Neotermes gnathoferrum (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae), a New Spec... more ... 2010 doi: 10.1664/09-RA-009R.1. Neotermes gnathoferrum (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae), a New Species from Fiji that Infests Mahogany. Jessica L. Ware 1, 3 , Sanjana Lal 2 , and David A. Grimaldi 1. ... Malaysia. Mayhew, JE and AC Newton. 1998. The Silviculture of Mahogany. ...
Among insects, eusocial behavior occurs in termites, ants, some bees and wasps. Isoptera and Hyme... more Among insects, eusocial behavior occurs in termites, ants, some bees and wasps. Isoptera and Hymenoptera convergently share social behavior, and for both taxa its evolution remains poorly understood. While dating analyses provide researchers with the opportunity to date the origin of eusociality, fossil calibration methodology may mislead subsequent ecological interpretations. Using a comprehensive termite dataset, we explored the effect of fossil placement and calibration methodology. A combined molecular and morphological dataset for 42 extant termite lineages was used, and a second dataset including these 42 taxa, plus an additional 39 fossil lineages for which we had only morphological data. MrBayes doublet-model analyses recovered similar topologies, with one minor exception (Stolotermitidae is sister to the Hodotermitidae, s.s., in the 42-taxon analysis but is in a polytomy with Hodotermitidae and (Kalotermitidae + Neoisoptera) in the 81-taxon analysis). Analyses using the r8s program on these topologies were run with either minimum/maximum constraints (analysis a = 42-taxon and analysis c = 81-taxon analyses) or with the fossil taxon ages fixed (ages fixed to be the geological age of the deposit from which they came, analysis b = 81-taxon analysis). Confidence intervals were determined for the resulting ultrametric trees, and for most major clades there was significant overlap between dates recovered for analyses A and C (with exceptions, such as the nodes Neoisoptera, and Euisoptera). With the exception of isopteran and eusiopteran node ages, however, none of the major clade ages overlapped when analysis B is compared with either analysis A or C. Future studies on Dictyoptera should note that the age of Kalotermitidae was underestimated in absence of kalotermitid fossils with fixed ages.
Among insects, perhaps the most appreciated are those that are esthetically pleasing: few capture... more Among insects, perhaps the most appreciated are those that are esthetically pleasing: few capture the interest of the public as much as vibrantly colored dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata). These remarkable insects are also extensively studied. Here, we review the history of odonate systematics, with an emphasis on discrepancies among studies. Over the past century, relationships among Odonata have been reinterpreted many times, using a variety of data from wing vein morphology to DNA. Despite years of study, there has been little consensus about odonate taxonomy. In this review, we compare odonate molecular phylogenetic studies with respect to gene and model selection, optimality criterion, and dataset completeness. These differences are discussed in relation to the evolution of dragonfly behavior.
Abstract Dictyoptera, comprising Blattaria, Isoptera, and Mantodea, are diverse in appearance and... more Abstract Dictyoptera, comprising Blattaria, Isoptera, and Mantodea, are diverse in appearance and life history, and are strongly supported as monophyletic. We downloaded COII, 16S, 18S, and 28S sequences of 39 dictyopteran species from GenBank. Ribosomal RNA sequences were aligned manually with reference to secondary structure. We included morphological data (maximum of 175 characters) for 12 of these taxa and for an additional 15 dictyopteran taxa (for which we had only morphological data). We had two datasets, a 59-taxon dataset with five outgroup taxa, from Phasmatodea (2 taxa), Mantophasmatodea (1 taxon), Embioptera (1 taxon), and Grylloblattodea (1 taxon), and a 62-taxon dataset with three additional outgroup taxa from Plecoptera (1 taxon), Dermaptera (1 taxon) and Orthoptera (1 taxon). We analysed the combined molecular−morphological dataset using the doublet and MK models in MrBayes, and using a parsimony heuristic search in paup. Within the monophyletic Mantodea, Mantoida is recovered as sister to the rest of Mantodea, followed by Chaeteessa; the monophyly of most of the more derived families as defined currently is not supported. We recovered novel phylogenetic hypotheses about the taxa within Blattodea (following Hennig, containing Isoptera). Unique to our study, one Bayesian analysis places Polyphagoidea as sister to all other Dictyoptera; other analyses and/or the addition of certain orthopteran sequences, however, place Polyphagoidea more deeply within Dictyoptera. Isoptera falls within the cockroaches, sister to the genus Cryptocercus. Separate parsimony analyses of independent gene fragments suggest that gene selection is an important factor in tree reconstruction. When we varied the ingroup taxa and/or outgroup taxa, the internal dictyopteran relationships differed in the position of several taxa of interest, including Cryptocercus, Polyphaga, Periplaneta and Supella. This provides further evidence that the choice of both outgroup and ingroup taxa greatly affects tree topology.
Although libelluloid dragonflies are diverse, numerous, and commonly observed and studied, their ... more Although libelluloid dragonflies are diverse, numerous, and commonly observed and studied, their phylogenetic history is uncertain. Over 150 years of taxonomic study of Libelluloidea Rambur, 1842, beginning with Hagen (1840), [Rambur, M.P., 1842. Neuropteres. Histoire naturelle des Insectes, Paris, pp. 534; Hagen, H., 1840. Synonymia Libellularum Europaearum. Dissertation inaugularis quam consensu et auctoritate gratiosi medicorum ordinis in academia albertina ad summos in medicina et chirurgia honores.] and Selys (1850), [de Selys Longchamps, E., 1850. Revue des Odonates ou Libellules d’Europe [avec la collaboration de H.A. Hagen]. Muquardt, Bruxelles; Leipzig, 1–408.], has failed to produce a consensus about family and subfamily relationships. The present study provides a well-substantiated phylogeny of the Libelluloidea generated from gene fragments of two independent genes, the 16S and 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and using models that take into account non-independence of correlated rRNA sites. Ninety-three ingroup taxa and six outgroup taxa were amplified for the 28S fragment; 78 ingroup taxa and five outgroup taxa were amplified for the 16S fragment. Bayesian, likelihood and parsimony analyses of the combined data produce well-resolved phylogenetic hypotheses and several previously suggested monophyletic groups were supported by each analysis. Macromiinae, Corduliidae s. s., and Libellulidae are each monophyletic. The corduliid (s.l.) subfamilies Synthemistinae, Gomphomacromiinae, and Idionychinae form a monophyletic group, separate from the Corduliinae. Libellulidae comprises three previously accepted subfamilies (Urothemistinae, a very restricted Tetrathemistinae, and a modified Libellulinae) and five additional consistently recovered groups. None of the other previously proposed subfamilies are supported. Bayesian analyses run with an additional 71 sequences obtained from GenBank did not alter our conclusions. The evolution of adult and larval morphological characters is discussed here to suggest areas for future focus. This study shows the inherent problems in using poorly defined and sometimes inaccurately scored characters, basing groups on symplesiomorphies, and failure to recognize the widespread effects of character correlation and convergence, especially in aspects of wing venation.
... 2010 doi: 10.1664/09-RA-009R.1. Neotermes gnathoferrum (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae), a New Spec... more ... 2010 doi: 10.1664/09-RA-009R.1. Neotermes gnathoferrum (Isoptera: Kalotermitidae), a New Species from Fiji that Infests Mahogany. Jessica L. Ware 1, 3 , Sanjana Lal 2 , and David A. Grimaldi 1. ... Malaysia. Mayhew, JE and AC Newton. 1998. The Silviculture of Mahogany. ...
Among insects, eusocial behavior occurs in termites, ants, some bees and wasps. Isoptera and Hyme... more Among insects, eusocial behavior occurs in termites, ants, some bees and wasps. Isoptera and Hymenoptera convergently share social behavior, and for both taxa its evolution remains poorly understood. While dating analyses provide researchers with the opportunity to date the origin of eusociality, fossil calibration methodology may mislead subsequent ecological interpretations. Using a comprehensive termite dataset, we explored the effect of fossil placement and calibration methodology. A combined molecular and morphological dataset for 42 extant termite lineages was used, and a second dataset including these 42 taxa, plus an additional 39 fossil lineages for which we had only morphological data. MrBayes doublet-model analyses recovered similar topologies, with one minor exception (Stolotermitidae is sister to the Hodotermitidae, s.s., in the 42-taxon analysis but is in a polytomy with Hodotermitidae and (Kalotermitidae + Neoisoptera) in the 81-taxon analysis). Analyses using the r8s program on these topologies were run with either minimum/maximum constraints (analysis a = 42-taxon and analysis c = 81-taxon analyses) or with the fossil taxon ages fixed (ages fixed to be the geological age of the deposit from which they came, analysis b = 81-taxon analysis). Confidence intervals were determined for the resulting ultrametric trees, and for most major clades there was significant overlap between dates recovered for analyses A and C (with exceptions, such as the nodes Neoisoptera, and Euisoptera). With the exception of isopteran and eusiopteran node ages, however, none of the major clade ages overlapped when analysis B is compared with either analysis A or C. Future studies on Dictyoptera should note that the age of Kalotermitidae was underestimated in absence of kalotermitid fossils with fixed ages.
Among insects, perhaps the most appreciated are those that are esthetically pleasing: few capture... more Among insects, perhaps the most appreciated are those that are esthetically pleasing: few capture the interest of the public as much as vibrantly colored dragonflies and damselflies (Insecta: Odonata). These remarkable insects are also extensively studied. Here, we review the history of odonate systematics, with an emphasis on discrepancies among studies. Over the past century, relationships among Odonata have been reinterpreted many times, using a variety of data from wing vein morphology to DNA. Despite years of study, there has been little consensus about odonate taxonomy. In this review, we compare odonate molecular phylogenetic studies with respect to gene and model selection, optimality criterion, and dataset completeness. These differences are discussed in relation to the evolution of dragonfly behavior.
Abstract Dictyoptera, comprising Blattaria, Isoptera, and Mantodea, are diverse in appearance and... more Abstract Dictyoptera, comprising Blattaria, Isoptera, and Mantodea, are diverse in appearance and life history, and are strongly supported as monophyletic. We downloaded COII, 16S, 18S, and 28S sequences of 39 dictyopteran species from GenBank. Ribosomal RNA sequences were aligned manually with reference to secondary structure. We included morphological data (maximum of 175 characters) for 12 of these taxa and for an additional 15 dictyopteran taxa (for which we had only morphological data). We had two datasets, a 59-taxon dataset with five outgroup taxa, from Phasmatodea (2 taxa), Mantophasmatodea (1 taxon), Embioptera (1 taxon), and Grylloblattodea (1 taxon), and a 62-taxon dataset with three additional outgroup taxa from Plecoptera (1 taxon), Dermaptera (1 taxon) and Orthoptera (1 taxon). We analysed the combined molecular−morphological dataset using the doublet and MK models in MrBayes, and using a parsimony heuristic search in paup. Within the monophyletic Mantodea, Mantoida is recovered as sister to the rest of Mantodea, followed by Chaeteessa; the monophyly of most of the more derived families as defined currently is not supported. We recovered novel phylogenetic hypotheses about the taxa within Blattodea (following Hennig, containing Isoptera). Unique to our study, one Bayesian analysis places Polyphagoidea as sister to all other Dictyoptera; other analyses and/or the addition of certain orthopteran sequences, however, place Polyphagoidea more deeply within Dictyoptera. Isoptera falls within the cockroaches, sister to the genus Cryptocercus. Separate parsimony analyses of independent gene fragments suggest that gene selection is an important factor in tree reconstruction. When we varied the ingroup taxa and/or outgroup taxa, the internal dictyopteran relationships differed in the position of several taxa of interest, including Cryptocercus, Polyphaga, Periplaneta and Supella. This provides further evidence that the choice of both outgroup and ingroup taxa greatly affects tree topology.
Although libelluloid dragonflies are diverse, numerous, and commonly observed and studied, their ... more Although libelluloid dragonflies are diverse, numerous, and commonly observed and studied, their phylogenetic history is uncertain. Over 150 years of taxonomic study of Libelluloidea Rambur, 1842, beginning with Hagen (1840), [Rambur, M.P., 1842. Neuropteres. Histoire naturelle des Insectes, Paris, pp. 534; Hagen, H., 1840. Synonymia Libellularum Europaearum. Dissertation inaugularis quam consensu et auctoritate gratiosi medicorum ordinis in academia albertina ad summos in medicina et chirurgia honores.] and Selys (1850), [de Selys Longchamps, E., 1850. Revue des Odonates ou Libellules d’Europe [avec la collaboration de H.A. Hagen]. Muquardt, Bruxelles; Leipzig, 1–408.], has failed to produce a consensus about family and subfamily relationships. The present study provides a well-substantiated phylogeny of the Libelluloidea generated from gene fragments of two independent genes, the 16S and 28S ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and using models that take into account non-independence of correlated rRNA sites. Ninety-three ingroup taxa and six outgroup taxa were amplified for the 28S fragment; 78 ingroup taxa and five outgroup taxa were amplified for the 16S fragment. Bayesian, likelihood and parsimony analyses of the combined data produce well-resolved phylogenetic hypotheses and several previously suggested monophyletic groups were supported by each analysis. Macromiinae, Corduliidae s. s., and Libellulidae are each monophyletic. The corduliid (s.l.) subfamilies Synthemistinae, Gomphomacromiinae, and Idionychinae form a monophyletic group, separate from the Corduliinae. Libellulidae comprises three previously accepted subfamilies (Urothemistinae, a very restricted Tetrathemistinae, and a modified Libellulinae) and five additional consistently recovered groups. None of the other previously proposed subfamilies are supported. Bayesian analyses run with an additional 71 sequences obtained from GenBank did not alter our conclusions. The evolution of adult and larval morphological characters is discussed here to suggest areas for future focus. This study shows the inherent problems in using poorly defined and sometimes inaccurately scored characters, basing groups on symplesiomorphies, and failure to recognize the widespread effects of character correlation and convergence, especially in aspects of wing venation.
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