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Abstract The Platypleurini is a large group of charismatic cicadas distributed from Cape Agulhas in South Africa, through tropical Africa, Madagascar, India and eastern Asia to Japan, with generic diversity concentrated in equatorial and southern Africa. This distribution suggests the possibility of a Gondwanan origin and dispersal to eastern Asia from Africa or India. We used a four‐gene (three mitochondrial) molecular dataset, fossil calibrations and molecular clock information to explore the phylogenetic relationships of the platypleurine cicadas and the timing and geography of their diversification. The earliest splits in the tribe were found to separate forest genera in Madagascar and equatorial Africa from the main radiation, and all of the Asian/Indian species sampled formed a younger clade nested well within the African taxa. The tribe appears to have diversified during the Cenozoic, beginningc. 50–32 Ma, with most extant African lineages originating in the Miocene or later, well after the breakup of the Gondwanan landmass. Biogeographical analysis suggests an African origin for the tribe and a single dispersal event founding the Asian platypleurines, although additional taxon sampling and genetic data will be needed to confirm this pattern because key nodes in the tree are still weakly supported. Two Platypleurini genera from Madagascar (PycnaAmyot & Audinet‐Serville,YangaDistant) are found to have originated by late Miocene dispersal of a single lineage from Africa. The genusPlatypleurais recovered as polyphyletic, withPlatypleura signiferaWalker from South Africa and many Asian/Indian species apparently requiring assignment to different genera, and a newPlatypleuraconcept is proposed with the synonymization ofAzanicadaVilletsyn.n.The generaOrapaDistant andHamzaDistant, currently listed within separate tribes but suspected of platypleurine affinity, are nested deeply within the Platypleurini radiation. The tribe Orapinisyn.n. is here synonymized while the tribe Hamzini is pending a decision of the ICZN to preserve nomenclatorial stability.
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Evolutionary history, novel lineages and symbiont coevolution in the ant tribe Camponotini (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Abstract Many insect groups have acquired obligate microbial symbionts, and the resulting associations can have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. A notable example among ants is the species‐rich tribe Camponotini, whose members derive nutritional benefits from a vertically inherited bacterial endosymbiont,Blochmannia. We generate ultraconserved element (UCE) phylogenomic data for 220 ingroup and 5 outgroup taxa to reconstruct a detailed evolutionary history of the Camponotini, including the inference of divergence times and dispersal events. Under multiple modes of analysis, including both concatenation and species‐tree approaches, we recover a well‐supported backbone phylogeny comprising eight lineages: three large genera (Camponotus,Colobopsis,Polyrhachis) and several smaller genera or clusters of genera. Three novel lineages are uncovered that cannot be placed in any existing genus:Lathidrisgen. n., from the mountains of Mesoamerica;Retalimyrmagen. n., from the Indian Himalayas; andUwarigen. n., from eastern Asia. The species in these new genera were described and placed erroneously inCamponotus. The tribe Camponotini is estimated to have a crown origin in the Eocene (median age 38.4 Ma), with successively younger crown ages forColobopsis(22.5 Ma),Camponotus(18.6 Ma) andPolyrhachis(18.5 Ma). We infer an Australasian or Indomalayan origin for the tribe, with multiple dispersal events to the Afrotropics, Palearctic region, and New World. Phylogenetic analysis of selectedBlochmanniagenes from a subset of 97 camponotine taxa yields results that are largely congruent with the ant host phylogeny, at least for well‐supported nodes, but we find evidence thatBlochmanniafrom some old lineages—especiallyLathidris—may have discordant histories, suggesting possible lability of this symbiosis in the early evolution of camponotine ants.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1856400
- PAR ID:
- 10591936
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Systematic Entomology
- Volume:
- 50
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0307-6970
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 646-676
- Size(s):
- p. 646-676
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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