@article {590961, title = {9-Genes Reinforce the Phylogeny of Holometabola and Yield Alternate Views on the Phylogenetic Placement of Strepsiptera}, journal = {Plos One}, volume = {5}, number = {7}, year = {2010}, month = {Jul 29}, abstract = {

Background: The extraordinary morphology, reproductive and developmental biology, and behavioral ecology of twisted wing parasites (order Strepsiptera) have puzzled biologists for centuries. Even today, the phylogenetic position of these enigmatic "insects from outer space{\textquoteright}{\textquoteright} [1] remains uncertain and contentious. Recent authors have argued for the placement of Strepsiptera within or as a close relative of beetles (order Coleoptera), as sister group of flies (order Diptera), or even outside of Holometabola.Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, we combine data from several recent studies with new data (for a total of 9 nuclear genes and similar to 13 kb of aligned data for 34 taxa), to help clarify the phylogenetic placement of Strepsiptera. Our results unequivocally support the monophyly of Neuropteroidea (= Neuropterida + Coleoptera) + Strepsiptera, but recover Strepsiptera either derived from within polyphagan beetles (order Coleoptera), or in a position sister to Neuropterida. All other supra-ordinal- and ordinal-level relationships recovered with strong nodal support were consistent with most other recent studies.Conclusions/Significance: These results, coupled with the recent proposed placement of Strepsiptera sister to Coleoptera, suggest that while the phylogenetic neighborhood of Strepsiptera has been identified, unequivocal placement to a specific branch within Neuropteroidea will require additional study.

}, keywords = {alignments, coleoptera, Evolution, felsenstein zone, Genes, hexapoda, host-parasitoid associations, insect orders, molecular phylogenetics, parsimony}, isbn = {1932-6203}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011887}, author = {McKenna, Duane D. and Brian D. Farrell} } @article {590976, title = {Seasonality, the latitudinal gradient of diversity, and Eocene insects}, journal = {Paleobiology}, volume = {36}, number = {3}, year = {2010}, month = {Sum}, pages = {374-398}, abstract = {

In the modern world, biotic diversity is typically higher in low-latitude tropical regions where there is abundant insolation (light and heat) and low thermal seasonality. Because these factors broadly covary with latitude, separating their possible effects on species diversity is difficult. The Eocene was a much more equable world, however, with low temperature seasonality extending into lower-insolation higher, cooler latitudes, allowing us to test these factors by comparing insect species diversity in (1) modern, temperate, low-insolation, highly seasonal Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, U.S.A., 42 degrees 29{\textquoteright}N; (2) modern, tropical, high-insolation, low-seasonality La Selva, Costa Rica, 10 degrees 26{\textquoteright}N, and; (3) Eocene, temperate, low-insolation, yet low-seasonality McAbee, British Columbia, Canada, above 50 degrees N paleolatitude. We found insect diversity at McAbee to be more similar to La Selva than to Harvard Forest, with high species richness of most groups and decreased diversity of ichneumon wasps, indicating that seasonality is key to the latitudinal diversity gradient. Further, midlatitude Eocene woody dicot diversities at McAbee, Republic (Washington, U.S.A.), and Laguna del Hunco (Argentina) are also high, similar to modern tropical samples, higher than at the modern midlatitude Harvard Forest. Modern correlations between latitude, species diversity, and seasonal climates were established some time after the Eocene.

}, keywords = {basal metabolic-rate, deep-sea, highlands british-columbia, large-scale patterns, leaf margin analysis, plant-species richness, rapoports rule, recent bivalve faunas, taxonomic diversity, western north-america}, isbn = {0094-8373}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1666/09021.1}, author = {Archibald, S. Bruce and Bossert, W. H. and Greenwood, D. R. and Brian D. Farrell} } @article {590971, title = {A test of the sympatric host race formation hypothesis in Neodiprion (Hymenoptera: Diprionidae)}, journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences}, volume = {277}, number = {1697}, year = {2010}, month = {Oct 22}, pages = {3131-3138}, abstract = {

Theory suggests that sympatric speciation is possible; however, its prevalence in nature remains unknown. Because Neodiprion sawflies are host specialists and mate on their hosts, sympatric speciation via host shifts may be common in this genus. Here, we test this hypothesis using near-complete taxonomic sampling of a species group, comprehensive geographical and ecological data, and multiple comparative methods. Host-use data suggest that host shifts contributed to the evolution of reproductive isolation in Neodiprion and previous work has shown that gene flow accompanied divergence. However, geographical data provide surprisingly little support for the hypothesis that host shifts occurred in sympatry. While these data do not rule out sympatric host race formation in Neodiprion, they suggest that this speciation mode is uncommon in the genus and possibly in nature.

}, keywords = {age-range correlation test, butterflies, divergence, Evolution, Gene Flow, host race, host shift, mitochondrial introgression, neodiprion, phylogenies, phytophagous insect, phytophagous insects, reproductive isolation, rhagoletis, Speciation, sympatric speciation}, isbn = {0962-8452}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/Rspb.2010.0577}, author = {Linnen, Catherine R. and Brian D. Farrell} } @article {590966, title = {Weevils in the Beetle Tree of Life: Exploring the phylogeny of Curculionoidea using morphology and molecules}, journal = {Cladistics}, volume = {26}, number = {2}, year = {2010}, month = {Apr}, pages = {216-216}, isbn = {0748-3007}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2009.00285.x}, author = {Marvaldi, Adriana E. and McKenna, Duane D. and Brian D. Farrell} }