Tribal affiliation of endemic Macaronesian bush-crickets similar to Tettigonia (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae) based on their karyology and taxonomy

Abstract

Two endemic genera of large tettigoniids are found in the Canary Islands and Madeira, which are morphologically similar to the genus Tettigonia. In this study, the karyotypes of representatives of the Glyphonotini genera Calliphona and Psalmatophanes are described for the first time. Comparison of their chromosomes with that of members of Tettigoniini genus Tettigonia revealed that all of the species studied have the same karyotype (2n = 29 with sex determination system X0 in the male), which differs from the ancestral tettigoniid karyotype by one Robertsonian translocation. These results support not only the morphological and molecular genetic evidence but also the hypothesis of a close relationship between Tettigonia and the endemics Calliphona and Psalmatophanes. Cytogenetic data of Glyphonotini strongly indicate that the taxonomy of thes lineage needs to be re-evaluated in which evidence from multiple sources could help resolve the taxonomic problems.

Keywords

• orthoptera
• tettigoniidae
• calliphona
• psalmatophanes
• canary islands
• madeira
• chromosomes
• systematics