A preliminary phylogeny of the South African Lentulidae.

Background: The grasshopper family Lentulidae is endemic to eastern and southern Africa, with its center of diversity situated in South Africa, the highest diversity being found in the Cape Floristic Region, which is one of the global biodiversity hotspots. The family consists of 35 genera sorted in two subfamilies. This study provides first insights into the phylogeny of Lentulidae. Two mitochondrial genes (12S and NDS) were sequenced and the phylogeny was inferred through Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference.

Results: Our results indicate that the current classification into the subfamilies Lentulinae and Shelforditinae may be incorrect as (Shelforditinae) and (Lentulinae) clustered together in one main clade, while and (all Lentulinae) formed the second main clade. The genera and , which had been assigned to the Acrididae (subfamily Hemiacridinae) in the past, grouped within the Lentulidae, confirming their current assignment to this family. The East African group is likely to represent a sister clade to the south African and . Diversification patterns in the genus and suggest a higher number of species than currently known.

Conclusions: Our phylogeny is not in line with the current systematics of Lentulidae, suggesting that a broader sampling and a study of the genitalia would be useful to clarify the taxonomy. Furthermore, some genera (particularly and ) are in need of taxonomic revision, as the number of species within these genera is likely to be higher than the current taxonomy suggests.