The Complete Mitogenomes of Three Grasshopper Species with Special Notes on the Phylogenetic Positions of Some Related Genera

Abstract

Clarifying phylogenetic position and reconstructing robust phylogeny of groups using various evidences are an eternal theme for taxonomy and systematics. In this study, the complete mitogenomes of Longzhouacris mirabilis, Ranacris albicornis, and Conophyma zhaosuensis were sequenced using next-generation sequencing (NGS), and the characteristics of the mitogenomes are presented briefly. The mitogenomes of the three species are all circular molecules with total lengths of 16,164 bp, 15,720 bp, and 16,190 bp, respectively. The gene structures and orders, as well as the characteristics of the mitogenomes, are similar to those of other published mitogenomes in Caelifera. The phylogeny of the main subfamilies of Acrididae with prosternal process was reconstructed using a selected dataset of mitogenome sequences under maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) frameworks. The results showed that the genus Emeiacris consistently fell into the subfamily Melanoplinae rather than Oxyinae, and the genus Choroedocus had the closest relationship with Shirackiacris of the subfamily Eyprepocnemidinae in both phylogenetic trees deduced from mitogenome protein coding genes (PCGs). This finding is entirely consistent with the morphological characters, which indicate that Emeiacris belongs to Melanoplinae and Choroedocus belongs to Eyprepocnemidinae. In addition, the genera Conophymacris and Xiangelilacris, as well as Ranacris and Menglacris, are two pairs of the closest relatives, but their phylogenetic positions need further study to clarify.

Keywords: Acrididae; Conophyma; Longzhouacris; Ranacris; mitogenome; phylogenetic position.

Figure 1

Linearised representation of gene arrangements in the three newly sequenced mitogenomes. mt1825: Longzhouacris mirabilis; mt1826: Ranacris albicornis; mt1938: Conophyma zhaosuensis.

Figure 2

Phylogenetic tree reconstructed from the sequences of the 13 mitochondrial PCGs using maximum likelihood. The asterisk indicates the three newly sequenced species.

Figure 3

Phylogenetic tree reconstructed from amino acid sequences of the 13 mitochondrial PCGs using maximum likelihood with MtOrt model. The asterisk indicates the three newly sequenced species.

Figure 4

Morphological characters of Emeiacris maculata and Oxya agavisa. (a–n) Emeiacris maculata. (a,b) Male habitus. (c,d) Female habitus. (e) Right hind leg of male. (f) Meso- and metasterna of male. (g,h) Right hind tabia of male. (i–k) Epiphallus in dorsal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (l–n) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views. (o–q) Oxya agavisa. (o) left hind femur of male. (p) left hind tibia of male. (q) Meso- and metasterna of male.

Figure 5

Morphological characters of Choroedocus capensis and Shirakiacris shirakii. (a–j) Choroedocus capensis. (a,b) Male habitus. (c,d) Female habitus. (e–h) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (i,j) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views. (k–t) Shirakiacris shirakii. (k,l) Male habitus. (m,n) Female habitus. (o–r) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (s,t) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views.

Figure 6

Morphological characters of Dericorys annulata and Conophyma zhaosuensis. (a–k) Dericorys annulata. (a,b) Male habitus. (c,d) Female habitus. (e–i) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal, dorsolateral and lateral views. (j,k) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views. (l–u) Conophyma zhaosuensis. (l,m) Male habitus. (n, o) Female habitus. (p–r) Epiphallus in dorsal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (s–u) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views. The blue arrows indicate the pseudoarch.

Figure 7

Morphological characters of Conophymacris szechwanensis and Xiangelilacris zhongdianensis. (a–k) Conophymacris szechwanensis. (a,b) Male habitus. (c,d) Female habitus. (e–h) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal and dorsolateral lateral views. (i–k) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views. (l–s) Types of Xiangelilacris zhongdianensis. (l,m) Holotype male habitus. (n) Labels of the holotype male (the chinese character sting below the scientific name Xiangelilacris zhongdianensis in the left label is the chinese name for this species, and that in the upper right label is the collecting data of the holotype male: 5–6 August 2007; Xiangelila, Yunnan; Yuan Huang, Zhijun Zhou leg.). (o,p) Paratype female habitus. (q) Labels of the paratype female (the chinese character sting below the scientific name Xiangelilacris zhongdianensis in the left label is the chinese name for this species, and that in the upper right label is the collecting data of the paratype female, same as that of the holotype male). (r) Wing bud of the holotype male. (s) Wing bud of the paratype female. The blue arrows indicate the arch.

Figure 8

Morphological characters of Menglacris maculata and Ranacris albicornis. (a–k) Menglacris maculata. (a,b) Male habitus. (c,d) Female habitus. (e–h) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (i–k) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views. (l–u) Ranacris albicornis. (l,m) Male habitus. (n,o) Female habitus. (p–s) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (t–u) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views.

Figure 9

Morphological characters of Longzhouacris mirabilis. (a,b) Male habitus. (c,d) Female habitus. (e–h) Epiphallus in dorsal, dorsofrontal, frontal and dorsolateral views. (i,j) Phallic complex in dorsal and lateral views.