Some Iranian Acridoidea (Orthoptera)

The hitherto unknown males of Paregnatius salavatiani, Paraconophyma pusilla, Wiltshirella fusiformis and Lyrotyloides viridis are described, and a new genus of Egnatiinae is erected for P. pusilla.     

蝗虫(直翅目:蝗总科)口器感受器的扫描电镜观察

对蝗总科8种蝗虫的口器感受器的超微结构、类型和分布进行了观察分析,共观察到6种蝗虫口器感受器:毛形感受器、锥形感受器、腔锥形感受器、B(o)hm氏鬃毛、刺形感受器I和刺形感受器Ⅱ,其中B(o)hm氏鬃毛是首次报道.同时对观察到的3种角质齿进行了描述.     

Supernumerary segments in five species of grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)

Supernumerary segments have been observed in five species of grasshoppers: Calliptamus barbarus, Oedipoda fuscocincta, Acrotylus insubricus, Omocestus raymondi and Chorthippus ariasi. In four cases they are located in the S-chromosomes, but in A. insubricus they are carried by the megameric pair (M₉). In C. barbarus and O. fuscocincta we have observed non-homologous association during diplotene between the extra segments and the X-chromosome. The supernumerary segments of these two species are distally located. However, in anaphase-I the unequal bivalents divide reductionally in 30% and 20% of the cells, respectively. Finally, the supernumerary segments of C. barbarus do not produce any effect on mean chiasma frequency, but they decrease significantly the between-cell variance of chiasmata in males carrying them.     

中国斑腿蝗科属级阶元区系研究（直翅目：蝗总科）

本文探讨了中国斑腿蝗科属级分布特征和区系组成特点.结果表明:在我国有分布的斑腿蝗科101个属级阶元中,东洋区成分为62属,占已知属总数的61.4%;其次依次为双区属18属,占17.8%;古北属15属,占14.9%;广布属6属,仅占5.9%;有48属为我国特有属,占总数的47.5%.根据其属级阶元在世界各大动物地理区的分布比较发现我国的斑腿蝗科昆虫与非洲共有性较高,两者亲缘关系相对较近.     

Complete mitochondrial genome of Oxya chinensis （Orthoptera, Acridoidea）

The complete sequence of Oxya chinensis （0. chinensis） mitochondrial genome is reported here. It is 15,443 bp in length and contains 75.9% A＋T. The protein-coding genes have a similar A＋T content （75.2%）. The initiation codon of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene in the mitochondrial genome of O. chinensis appears to be ATC, instead of the tetranucleotides that have been reported in Locusta migratoria （L migratoria） mitochondrial genome. The sizes of the large and small ribosomal RNA genes are 1319 and 850 bp, respectively. The transfer RNA genes have been modeled and showed strong resemblance to the dipteran transfer RNAs, and all anticodons are identical to those of dipteran. The A＋T-rich region is 562 bp, shorter than that of other known Orthoptera insects. The six conserved domains were identified within the A＋T-rich region by comparing its sequence with those of other grasshoppers. The result of phylogenetic analysis based on the dataset containing 12 concatenated protein sequences confirms the close relation-ship of O. chinensis with L migratoria.     

The relationship between diet and the size of the midgut caeca in grasshoppers (Insecta: Orthoptera: Acridoidea)

A survey of the size and form of the midgut caeca in relation to diet has been carried out on 173 species from 21 families and subfamilies of Acridoidea (grasshoppers). Although differences exist in the size of the anterior caecal arms relative to body length, these differences are not related to the type of food eaten. Assuming that the anterior arms have a key role in digestive and absorptive processes, this suggests that different foods make similar demands on these processes. The posterior caecal arms are smaller in graminivorous species than in species eating other types of plants as a whole or part of their diet. This is true across all the taxa, including those families and subfamilies that are predominantly forb-feeding. It is suggested that the posterior caecal arms have a special role in the detoxification of plant secondary compounds and that the requirement for this is reduced in graminivorous species because of the lower levels of toxic secondary compounds in grasses. A specialized pocket region is present in the posterior caecal arms of some forb-feeding species. Its occurrence across the taxa is spasmodic. It may be concerned with the removal of phenolic compounds.     

蝗虫分子系统学研究进展

本文从遗传多样性、近缘种鉴别以及分子进化和系统发育重建 3个方面综述了蝗虫分子系统学的研究进展。     

Male and female genitalia in some Libyan species of Acrididae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)

A comparative study of male and female genitalia was carried out in thirty‐seven Libyan species representing twenty genera of the family Acrididae. An attempt has been made to describe and illustrate the different structures, namely, epiphallus, aedeagus, subgenital plate, supra‐anal plate and cerci of the male, and spermatheca, ovipositor, subgenital plate, supra‐anal plate and cerci of the female, in Acridids, with an aim to discover their significance in order to make the identification of genera and species, together with other generic characters, more perfect and convenient. Distinct family characters are shield or bridge‐shaped condition of epiphallus; presence or absence of dorso‐lateral appendices, oval sclerites and lophi on epiphallus; divided, undivided or flexured condition of aedeagus; presence or absence of gonopore process on aedeagus; condition of apical and pre‐apical diverticula of spermatheca; presence or absence of glandular pouches of Cornstock and Kellog on female subgenital plate; and rudimentary or well developed condition of egg‐guide. Stable characters for separating the subfamilies are taken to be presence or absence of ancorae on epiphallus, long or short condition of aedeagal sclerites; elongate, slender or short and broad condition of ovipositor valves: presence or absence of Jannone's organs and setae on posterior margin of female subgenital plate; and shape of diverticula of spermatheca. Useful generic characters are shape of male subgenital plate, supra‐anal plate and cerci, broad or narrow condition of bridge, presence or absence of branch of bridge connecting lophi with bridge of epiphallus; mono‐, bi‐ or tri‐lobate condition of lophi of epiphallus, length and upcurved or downcurved condition of apical valve of aedeagus, shape of posterior margin of female subgenital plate, presence of setae on the whole posterior margin or confined to lateral margins only; and toothed, tuberculate or smooth condition of ovipositor valves, length of the lateral apodeme in relation to the dorsal valves. Specific characters are shape of egg‐guide of female subgenital plate, shape of ovipositor valves and apical tips, shape of male supra‐anal plate and cerci, size of anterior and posterior lobes of lophi of epiphallus, size and shape of ancorae, shape of apical valves of aedeagus; and size of apical and pre‐apical diverticula and presence of protuberance on pre‐apical diverticulum.     

The synonymy and distribution of Atractomorpha acutipennis (Guerin) (Orthoptera:Acridoidea:Pyrgomorphidae)

Atractomorpha acutipennis (Guerin-Meneville) comprises four ill-defined, somewhat arbitrary subspecies: A. a. acutipennis , from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands; A. a. gerstaeckeri Bolivar, widely distributed in Africa; A. a. brevis Uvarov from south-western Arabia; and A. a. blanchardi Bolivar, from other parts of south-western Asia. The full synonymy and the localities from which each subspecies is known are given.     

福建省蝗虫二新种（直翅目：蝗总科）

本记述采自福建武夷山地区蝗虫二新种,即曲缘卵翅蝗Caryanaa curvbnargina sp．n．亚武夷山雏蝗Chorthip pus wuyishanensis sp．n．     

Phylogeny and classification of the Catantopidae at the tribal level (Orthoptera, Acridoidea)

The grasshopper family Catantopidae is a well-known group, whose members include some of the most notorious agricultural pests. The existing classifications of the family are mostly utilitarian rather than being based on phylogenetic analysis and therefore unable to provide the stability desired for such an economically important group. In the present study, we present the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the family based on morphology. By extensively sampling from the Chinese fauna, we included in the present analysis multiple representatives of each of the previously recognized tribes in the family. In total, we examined 94 genera represented by 240 species and evaluated 116 characters, including 84 for external morphology and 32 for male genitalia. The final matrix consists of 86 ingroup taxa and 88 characters. Our phylogenetic analyses resulted in a high resolution of the basal relationships of the family while showed considerable uncertainty about the relationships among some crown taxa. We further evaluated the usefulness of morphological characters in phylogeny reconstruction of the catantopids by examining character fit to the shortest trees found, and contrary to previous suggestions, our results suggest that genitalia characters are not as informative as external morphology in inferring higher-level relationship. We further suggest that earlier classification systems of grasshoppers in general and Catantopidae in particular most probably consist of many groups that are not natural due the heavy reliance on genitalia features and need to be revised in the light of future phylogenetic studies. Finally, we outlined a tentative classification scheme based on the results of our phylogenetic analysis.     

Paranosema locustae (Microsporidia) in grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Acridoidea) of Argentina: field host range expanded

Detection of Paranosema locustae in three grasshopper species (Ronderosia bergi, Sinipta dalmani, Trimerotropis pallidipenis) within the establishment area of the Pampas expands the field host range of the pathogen to 20 species in the country. The newly recorded hosts might be important in the persistence and dispersal of the pathogen.     

A new species and a new combination of Arcypteridae from China (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)

A new species, Chorthippus(Altichorthippus) qixingtaiensis sp. nov. from China is described in this paper. The new species is similar to C.(A.) changtunensis Yin, 1984, but different by: prozona longer than metazoan, maximum width of medial area of tegmen about 2 times as maximum width of cubital area in male, base of hind femur without dark sloping stripe on inner side and length of interspace of mesosterum shorter than minimum width in female. A new combination Magaulacobothrus tianshanensis(Zheng, Ma Ren, 2009) comb. nov. is reported. The type specimens are deposited in the College of Plant Protection, Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, Shandong, China.     

Comparative mitogenome analysis of three species and monophyletic inference of Catantopinae (Orthoptera: Acridoidea)

To enrich the genomic database of Catantopinae (Orthoptera: Acrididae), mitogenomes of three species from different genera, Traulia nigritibialis (15,701 bp), Choroedocus capensis (16,293 bp) and Stenocatantops splendens (15,574 bp), were characterized and compared with those of other grasshoppers in the subfamily. All 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs) were initiated by ATN codons except COI with ACC (C. capensis and S.splendens) and ND6 with TTG (S. splendens). All transfer RNA (tRNA) genes had a typical clover-leaf structure, except tRNA^Ser(AGN) in which the base pairs of the dihydrouridine (DHU) arm were reduced. The phylogenetic relationships were constructed among 22 species from four subfamiles of Acrididae by classical classifications based on two datasets of their mitogenomes using both Bayesian Inference (BI) and Maximum Likelihood (ML). The phylogenetic analysis confirmed the monophyly of the three other subfamilies, but did not provided support of the monophyly of Catantopinae.     

The chromosomes of mantids (Orthoptera; Manteidae) in relation to taxonomy

Summary The distinguishing cytological characters, including chromosome number and sex chromosome mechanism, have been tabulated for all mantids thus far studied cytologically—including 16 species (starred in Table 1) not hitherto examined. Data on 46 species in 17 subfamilies are reviewed.The XO—XX sex chromosome mechanism represents the ancestral condition for the family and has been retained in 14 of the subfamilies sampled.The distribution of the X¹X²Y—X¹X¹X²X² mechanism, previously known in the subfamilies Manteinae and Choeradodinae, is extended to include Mellierinae, Acromantinae and Vatinae.Cytological evidence indicates a monophyletic origin of the compound sex chromosomes and necessitates a reconsideration of the taxonomic association of XO and X¹X²Y forms in the same subfamily, specifically of Miomantis and Callimantis with the other Manteinae, and Aethalocroa with Vates and Phyllovates in the Vatinae.The pre-metaphase stretch is established as a regular stage in male meiosis in 14—and is absent in 3—of the species checked for this character. It should prove of taxonomic value when a wider sampling of the lower categories is available.The prolongation of parallel pairing of homologous chromosomes in male meiosis appears to be characteristic of the Manteidae as a whole. No correlation is apparent between the degree of its expression and taxonomic category. Since it provides a mechanism, additional or alternative to chiasmata, for the post-pachytene association of homologues, its establishment permits the evolution of non-chiasmate meiosis in the group.Two structural types of bivalents—one with, one without chiasmata—are found. Present evidence favors the multiple origin of the non-chiasmate type within the family, and since both types may coexist in the karyotype of the same sex of a single species, presence or absence of chiasmata cannot be considered a valid taxonomic criterion.