The last Pleistocene glaciations phylogeography episode of Phaneroptera falcata (Poda, 1761) (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) in the Volga River basin based on the mtDNA Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene fragment

Abstract

This study is to research the phylogeography of Phaneroptera falcata (Poda, 1761) in the Volga river basin based on the mtDNA Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit 1 (COI) gene fragment at the last Pleistocene glaciation episode. The studied location is the Volga river basin, a territory within the central and partially southern parts of European Russia; it includes the rivers Volga, Oka, Khoper and Don basins. We used the traditional molecular phylogeography methods: mtDNA COI gene fragment from the key locations within the studied area was sequenced and then analyzed (cladogram topology, haplotype diversity, cladogram calibration etc.). The phylogenetic tree shows the dispersion of our samples over the following regions: Lower Volga, Middle Volga, Lower Oka, Middle Oka, Upper Oka, Don basin, Khoper basin. Nine haplotypes determined from our samples; they are grouped into 7 haplogroups. Six of them are in the basins of the main rivers of the Volga region: three haplogroups - on the Oka (Upper, Middle and Lower Oka respectively), haplogroups of the Khoper and Don basins, and the haplogroup of the Middle Volga combining two subgroups – Lower and Middle Volga basins. The distribution of found haplogroups correlates with big river basins in the Volga area (Volga, Oka, Khoper, Don).