Phylogenetic relationships and historical biogeography of silkmoths (Lepidoptera: Bombycidae) suggest an origin in Southern Gondwana.

Silkmoths (Bombycidae) have a disjunct distribution predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere and Asia. Here we reconstruct the phylogenetic history of the family to test competing hypotheses on their origin and assess how vicariance and long-distance dispersal shaped their current distribution. We sequenced up to 5,074 base pairs from six loci (COI, EF1-α, wgl, CAD, GAPDH, and RpS5) to infer the historical biogeography of Bombycidae.

Evolution across the adaptive landscape in a hyperdiverse beetle radiation.

The extraordinary diversification of beetles on Earth is a textbook example of adaptive evolution. Yet, the tempo and drivers of this super-radiation remain largely unclear. Here, we address this problem by investigating macroevolutionary dynamics in darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), one of the most ecomorphologically diverse beetle families (with over 30,000 species).

Historical museum samples reveal signals of selection and drift in response to changing insecticide use in an agricultural pest moth.

In response to environmental and human-imposed selective pressures, agroecosystem pests frequently undergo rapid evolution, with some species having a remarkable capacity to rapidly develop pesticide resistance. Temporal sampling of genomic data can comprehensively capture such adaptive changes over time, for example, by elucidating allele frequency shifts in pesticide resistance loci in response to different pesticides. Here, we leveraged museum specimens spanning over a century of collections to generate temporal contrasts between pre- and post-insecticide populations of an agricultural pest moth, Helicoverpa armigera.

Critical re-examination of known purported fossil Bombycoidea (Lepidoptera).

We critically re-examine 17 records of fossils currently assigned to the lepidopteran superfamily Bombycoidea, which includes the silk moths, emperor moths and hawk moths. These records include subfossils, compression and impression fossils, permineralizations and ichnofossils. We assess whether observable morphological features warrant their confident assignment to the superfamily.

Museomics unveil systematics, diversity and evolution of Australian cycad-pollinating weevils.

Weevils have been shown to play significant roles in the obligate pollination of Australian cycads. In this study, we apply museomics to produce a first molecular phylogeny estimate of the Australian cycad weevils, allowing an assessment of their monophyly, placement and relationships. Divergence dating suggests that the Australian cycad weevils originated from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene and that the main radiation of the cycad-pollinating groups occurred from the Middle to the Late Miocene, which is congruent with the diversification of the Australian cycads, thus refuting any notion of an ancient ciophilous system in Australia.

Large-scale genomic data reveal the phylogeny and evolution of owlet moths (Noctuoidea).

The owlet moths (Noctuoidea; ~43-45K described species) are one of the most ecologically diverse and speciose superfamilies of animals. Moreover, they comprise some of the world's most notorious pests of agriculture and forestry. Despite their contributions to terrestrial biodiversity and impacts on ecosystems and economies, the evolutionary history of Noctuoidea remains unclear because the superfamily lacks a statistically robust phylogenetic and temporal framework.

Revision of the African Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) based on morphological and molecular data.

Adults of the African species of the genus Neoperla Needham, 1905 (Plecoptera: Perlidae: Perlinae) are revised, and 82 valid species are recognised. Of the original 29 named species, 14 valid ones are redescribed from types, nine lectotypes are designated, and nine new synonymies are proposed. Sixty-two new species are named, and several additional new species only known from material insufficient for formal description are listed.

Pollen DNA metabarcoding reveals cryptic diversity and high spatial turnover in alpine plant-pollinator networks.

Alpine plant-pollinator communities play an important role in the functioning of alpine ecosystems, which are highly threatened by climate change. However, we still have a poor understanding of how environmental factors and spatiotemporal variability shape these communities. Here, we investigate what drives structure and beta diversity in a plant-pollinator metacommunity from the Australian alpine region using two approaches: pollen DNA metabarcoding (MB) and observations.

Phylogeny of gracillariid leaf-mining moths: evolution of larval behaviour inferred from phylogenomic and Sanger data.

Gracillariidae is the most taxonomically diverse cosmopolitan leaf-mining moth family, consisting of nearly 2000 named species in 105 described genera, classified into eight extant subfamilies. The majority of gracillariid species are internal plant feeders as larvae, creating mines and galls in plant tissue. Despite their diversity and ecological adaptations, their phylogenetic relationships, especially among subfamilies, remain uncertain.

Development and evaluation of a custom bait design based on 469 single-copy protein-coding genes for exon capture of isopods (Philosciidae: Haloniscus).

Transcriptome-based exon capture approaches, along with next-generation sequencing, are allowing for the rapid and cost-effective production of extensive and informative phylogenomic datasets from non-model organisms for phylogenetics and population genetics research. These approaches generally employ a reference genome to infer the intron-exon structure of targeted loci and preferentially select longer exons. However, in the absence of an existing and well-annotated genome, we applied this exon capture method directly, without initially identifying intron-exon boundaries for bait design, to a group of highly diverse Haloniscus (Philosciidae), paraplatyarthrid and armadillid isopods, and examined the performance of our methods and bait design for phylogenetic inference.

Phylogenomics reveals accelerated late Cretaceous diversification of bee flies (Diptera: Bombyliidae).

Bombyliidae is a very species-rich and widespread family of parasitoid flies with more than 250 genera classified into 17 extant subfamilies. However, little is known about their evolutionary history or how their present-day diversity was shaped. Transcriptomes of 15 species and anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) sequence captures of 86 species, representing 94 bee fly species and 14 subfamilies, were used to reconstruct the phylogeny of Bombyliidae.

Mitochondrial DNA genomes of five major pest species from the Old and New Worlds (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

Five species of noctuid moths, , , , and are major agricultural pests inhabiting various and often overlapping global distributions. Visual identification of these species requires a great deal of expertise and misidentification can have repercussions for pest management and agricultural biosecurity. Here, we report on the complete mitochondrial genomes of and , , and and assembled from high-throughput sequencing data.

A global checklist of the Bombycoidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera).

Background: Bombycoidea is an ecologically diverse and speciose superfamily of Lepidoptera. The superfamily includes many model organisms, but the taxonomy and classification of the superfamily has remained largely in disarray. Here we present a global checklist of Bombycoidea.

Hybridization and gene flow in the mega-pest lineage of moth, .

Within the mega-pest lineage of heliothine moths are a number of polyphagous, highly mobile species for which the exchange of adaptive traits through hybridization would affect their properties as pests. The recent invasion of South America by one of the most significant agricultural pests, , raises concerns for the formation of novel combinations of adaptive genes following hybridization with the closely related To investigate the propensity for hybridization within the genus , we carried out whole-genome resequencing of samples from six species, focusing in particular upon population structure and its relationship with We show that both subspecies have greater genetic diversity and effective population sizes than do the other species. We find no signals for gene flow among the six species, other than between and , with nine Brazilian individuals proving to be hybrids of those two species.

Museum Genomics Confirms that the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect Survived Extinction.

The Lord Howe Island stick insect, Dryococelus australis, was once common on the island but was driven to extinction after the arrival of ship rats in the early 20 century [1, 2]. It was thought to be extinct for decades, until a tiny population of similar-looking stick insects was discovered 20 km away, on the islet of Ball's Pyramid, in 2001 [2]. Individuals from this population are currently being reared in Australia and elsewhere in the world, with the eventual goal of recolonizing Lord Howe Island [3].

Diversification shifts in leafroller moths linked to continental colonization and the rise of angiosperms.

Tectonic dynamics and niche availability play intertwined roles in determining patterns of diversification. Such drivers explain the current distribution of many clades, whereas events such as the rise of angiosperms can have more specific impacts, such as on the diversification rates of herbivores. The Tortricidae, a diverse group of phytophagous moths, are ideal for testing the effects of these determinants on the diversification of herbivorous clades.

Molecular phylogeny reveals food plasticity in the evolution of true ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae: Coccinellini).

Background: The tribe Coccinellini is a group of relatively large ladybird beetles that exhibits remarkable morphological and biological diversity. Many species are aphidophagous, feeding as larvae and adults on aphids, but some species also feed on other hemipterous insects (i.e.

Museums are biobanks: unlocking the genetic potential of the three billion specimens in the world's biological collections.

Museums and herbaria represent vast repositories of biological material. Until recently, working with these collections has been difficult, due to the poor condition of historical DNA. However, recent advances in next-generation sequencing technology, and subsequent development of techniques for preparing and sequencing historical DNA, have recently made working with collection specimens an attractive option.

Power, resolution and bias: recent advances in insect phylogeny driven by the genomic revolution.

Our understanding on the phylogenetic relationships of insects has been revolutionised in the last decade by the proliferation of next generation sequencing technologies (NGS). NGS has allowed insect systematists to assemble very large molecular datasets that include both model and non-model organisms. Such datasets often include a large proportion of the total number of protein coding sequences available for phylogenetic comparison.

Biodiversity into your hands - A call for a virtual global natural history 'metacollection'.

Background: Many scientific disciplines rely on correct taxon delineations and identifications. So does a great part of the general public as well as decision makers. Researchers, students and enthusiastic amateurs often feel frustrated because information about species remains scattered, difficult to access, or difficult to decipher.

A large-scale, higher-level, molecular phylogenetic study of the insect order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies).

Background: Higher-level relationships within the Lepidoptera, and particularly within the species-rich subclade Ditrysia, are generally not well understood, although recent studies have yielded progress. We present the most comprehensive molecular analysis of lepidopteran phylogeny to date, focusing on relationships among superfamilies.

Methodology Principal Findings: 483 taxa spanning 115 of 124 families were sampled for 19 protein-coding nuclear genes, from which maximum likelihood tree estimates and bootstrap percentages were obtained using GARLI.

A molecular phylogeny for yponomeutoidea (insecta, Lepidoptera, ditrysia) and its implications for classification, biogeography and the evolution of host plant use.

Background: Yponomeutoidea, one of the early-diverging lineages of ditrysian Lepidoptera, comprise about 1,800 species worldwide, including notable pests and insect-plant interaction models. Yponomeutoids were one of the earliest lepidopteran clades to evolve external feeding and to extensively colonize herbaceous angiosperms. Despite the group's economic importance, and its value for tracing early lepidopteran evolution, the biodiversity and phylogeny of Yponomeutoidea have been relatively little studied.