Out of Africa?: a dated molecular phylogeny of the cicada tribe Platypleurini Schmidt (Hemiptera: Cicadidae), with a focus on African genera and the genus Platypleura Amyot and Audinet‐Serville
- Authors: Price, Benjamin W , Marshall, David C , Barker, Nigel P , Simon, Chris , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140704 , vital:37911 , DOI: 10.1111/syen.12360
- Description: The Platypleurini is a large group of charismatic cicadas distributed from Cape Agulhas in South Africa, through tropical Africa, Madagascar, India and eastern Asia to Japan, with generic diversity concentrated in equatorial and southern Africa. This distribution suggests the possibility of a Gondwanan origin and dispersal to eastern Asia from Africa or India. We used a four-gene (three mitochondrial) molecular dataset, fossil calibrations and molecular clock information to explore the phylogenetic relationships of the platypleurine cicadas and the timing and geography of their diversification. The earliest splits in the tribe were found to separate forest genera in Madagascar and equatorial Africa from the main radiation, and all of the Asian/Indian species sampled formed a younger clade nested well within the African taxa.
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- Date Issued: 2019
A molecular phylogeny of the cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) with a review of tribe and subfamily classification:
- Authors: Marshall, David C , Moulds, Max , Hill, Kathy B R , Price, Benjamin W , Wade, Elizabeth J , Owen, Christopher L , Goemans, Geert , Marathe, Kiran , Sarkar, Vivek , Cooley, John R , Sanborn, Allen F , Kunte, Krushnamegh , Villet, Martin H , Simon, Chris
- Date: 2018
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140601 , vital:37902 , DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4424.1.1
- Description: A molecular phylogeny and a review of family-group classification are presented for 137 species (ca. 125 genera) of the insect family Cicadidae, the true cicadas, plus two species of hairy cicadas (Tettigarctidae) and two outgroup species from Cercopidae. Five genes, two of them mitochondrial, comprise the 4992 base-pair molecular dataset. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic results are shown, including analyses to address potential base composition bias. Tettigarcta is confirmed as the sister-clade of the Cicadidae and support is found for three subfamilies identified in an earlier morphological cladistic analysis. A set of paraphyletic deep-level clades formed by African genera are together named as Tettigomyiinae n. stat. Taxonomic reassignments of genera and tribes are made where morphological examination confirms incorrect placements suggested by the molecular tree, and 11 new tribes are defined (Arenopsaltriini n. tribe, Durangonini n. tribe, Katoini n. tribe, Lacetasini n. tribe, Macrotristriini n. tribe, Malagasiini n. tribe, Nelcyndanini n. tribe, Pagiphorini n. tribe, Pictilini n. tribe, Psaltodini n. tribe, and Selymbriini n. tribe). Tribe Tacuini n. syn. is synonymized with Cryptotympanini, and Tryellina n. syn. is synonymized with an expanded Tribe Lamotialnini. Tribe Hyantiini n. syn. is synonymized with Fidicinini. Tribe Sinosenini is transferred to Cicadinae from Cicadettinae, Cicadatrini is moved to Cicadettinae from Cicadinae, and Ydiellini and Tettigomyiini are transferred to Tettigomyiinae n. stat from Cicadettinae. While the subfamily Cicadinae, historically defined by the presence of timbal covers, is weakly supported in the molecular tree, high taxonomic rank is not supported for several earlier clades based on unique morphology associated with sound production.
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- Date Issued: 2018
Global Cicada Sound Collection I: Recordings from South Africa and Malawi by BW Price and MH Villet and harvesting of BioAcoustica data by GBIF
- Authors: Baker, Ed , Price, Benjamin W , Rycroft, Simon , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441420 , vital:73886 , https://bdj.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=5792
- Description: Sound collections for singing insects provide important repositories that underpin existing research (eg Price et al. 2007 at http://bio. acousti. ca/node/11801; Price et al. 2010) and make bioacoustic collections available for future work, including insect communication (Ordish 1992), systematics (eg David et al. 2003), and automated identification (Bennett et al. 2015). The BioAcoustica platform (Baker et al. 2015) is both a repository and analysis platform for bioacoustic collections: allowing collections to be available in perpetuity, and also facilitating complex analyses using the BioVeL cloud infrastructure (Vicario et al. 2011). The Global Cicada Sound Collection is a project to make recordings of the world's cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) available using open licences to maximise their potential for study and reuse. This first component of the Global Cicada Sound Collection comprises recordings made between 2006 and 2008 of Cicadidae in South Africa and Malawi.
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- Date Issued: 2015
Climate change effects on animal and plant phylogenetic diversity in southern Africa
- Authors: Pio, Dorothea V , Engler, Robin , Linder, H Peter , Monadjem, Ara , Cotterill, Fenton P D , Taylor, Peter J , Schoeman, M Corrie , Price, Benjamin W , Villet, Martin H , Eick, Geeta , Salamin, Nicholas , Guisan, Antoine
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441874 , vital:73930 , https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12524
- Description: Much attention has been paid to the effects of climate change on species' range reductions and extinctions. There is however surprisingly little information on how climate change driven threat may impact the tree of life and result in loss of phylogenetic diversity (PD). Some plant families and mammalian orders reveal nonrandom extinction patterns, but many other plant families do not. Do these discrepancies reflect different speciation histories and does climate induced extinction result in the same discrepancies among different groups? Answers to these questions require representative taxon sampling. Here, we combine phylogenetic analyses, species distribution modeling, and climate change projections on two of the largest plant families in the Cape Floristic Region (Proteaceae and Restionaceae), as well as the second most diverse mammalian order in Southern Africa (Chiroptera), and an herbivorous insect genus (Platypleura) in the family Cicadidae to answer this question. We model current and future species distributions to assess species threat levels over the next 70 years, and then compare projected with random PD survival. Results for these animal and plant clades reveal congruence. PD losses are not significantly higher under predicted extinction than under random extinction simulations. So far the evidence suggests that focusing resources on climate threatened species alone may not result in disproportionate benefits for the preservation of evolutionary history.
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- Date Issued: 2014
A review of the alderfly genus Leptosialis Esben-Petersen (Megaloptera, Sialidae) with description of a new species from South Africa
- Authors: Price, Benjamin W , Liu, Xingyue , de Moor, Ferdy C , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441461 , vital:73891 , https://zookeys.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=2856
- Description: The monotypic South African alderfly genus Leptosialis Esben-Petersen, 1920 is reviewed and Leptosialis africana Esben-Petersen, 1920 is redescribed. In the process a new species of alderfly Leptosialis necopinata sp. n. from the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa is recognised and described. Within Sialidae the new species most closely resembles Leptosialis africana. A key to the two species of Leptosialis using both adult and larval characters is provided.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Cryptic variation in an ecological indicator organism: mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data confirm distinct lineages of Baetis harrisoni Barnard (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) in southern Africa
- Authors: Pereira-da-Conceicoa, L L , Price, Benjamin W , Barber-James, Helen M
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7151 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011855
- Description: Baetis harrisoni Barnard is a mayfly frequently encountered in river studies across Africa, but the external morphological features used for identifying nymphs have been observed to vary subtly between different geographic locations. It has been associated with a wide range of ecological conditions, including pH extremes of pH 2.9–10.0 in polluted waters. We present a molecular study of the genetic variation within B. harrisoni across 21 rivers in its distribution range in southern Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Cryptic variation in an ecological indicator organism: mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data confirm distinct lineages of Baetis harrisoni Barnard (Ephemeroptera: Baetidae) in Southern Africa
- Authors: Pereira-da-Conceicoa, Lyndall L , Price, Benjamin W , Barber-James, Helen M , Barker, Nigel P , de Moor, Ferdy C , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6535 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005976 , https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2148-12-26
- Description: Baetis harrisoni Barnard is a mayfly frequently encountered in river studies across Africa, but the external morphological features used for identifying nymphs have been observed to vary subtly between different geographic locations. It has been associated with a wide range of ecological conditions, including pH extremes of pH 2.9–10.0 in polluted waters. We present a molecular study of the genetic variation within B. harrisoni across 21 rivers in its distribution range in southern Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2012
Using molecules and morphology to infer the phylogenetic relationships and evolutionary history of the Dirini (Nymphalidae: Satyrinae), a tribe of butterflies endemic to Southern Africa
- Authors: Price, Benjamin W , Villet, Martin H , Walton, Shaun M , Barker, Nigel P
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442397 , vital:73981 , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3113.2010.00560.x
- Description: The first empirically supported phylogenetic hypothesis of relationships for the southern African endemic butterfly tribe Dirini is presented. Data derived from the morphology and ecology of the adults and immature stages (33 characters), and portions of the mitochondrial gene cytochrome oxidase I (COI) and the nuclear genes elongation factor 1α (EF1α) and wingless (WG) (totalling 1734 bp) were used to infer the relationships of the in‐group genera. An expanded molecular dataset using four genera from the Nymphalini and Satyrini to root the tree, and three genera from the Melanitini to test the monophyly of the tribe, was analysed using parsimony and Bayesian methods. Estimates of divergence times were calculated using two fossil calibrations under a relaxed molecular clock model. The monophyly of the tribe and each in‐group genus were strongly supported. Key findings are the sister‐taxon relationship of Aeropetes and Tarsocera, the apparent simultaneous or nearly simultaneous radiation of four lineages, the polyphyly of the species within Torynesis, and the apparent trans‐Atlantic dispersal of the ancestors of Manataria about 40 Ma. Estimates of divergence times indicate that the tribe has undergone two major radiations since its origin: the first when they left forest habitats in the mid–late Oligocene, shortly after the radiation of the grasses (Poaceae), and the second in the early‐middle Pliocene, coinciding with the aridification of southern Africa and the spread of conditions that favoured C4 grasses over the C3 grasses that dirine larvae prefer to eat. The high species diversity within the tribe appears to be partly a taxonomic artefact that may have resulted from the misinterpretation of climate-related phenotypic variation within extant species. Relocation and breeding experiments should test this hypothesis.
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- Date Issued: 2011
A watershed study on genetic diversity phylogenetic analysis of the Platypleura plumosa (Hemiptera Cicadidae) complex reveals catchment-specific lineages
- Authors: Price, Benjamin W , Barker, Nigel P , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/441711 , vital:73909 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2009.10.011
- Description: Historical biogeography studies have at their disposal a small suite of vicariance models to explain genetic differentiation within and between species. One of these processes involves the role of river catchments and their associated watersheds, in driving diversification and is applicable to both aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Although the idea of catchments structuring the genetic history of aquatic organisms is reasonably well understood, their effect on terrestrial organisms has largely been overlooked, with relevant studies being limited in scope. South Africa presents a perfect test-bed for elucidating this mechanism of diversification due to its rich biodiversity, range of climatic environments and many large river catchments. Here we use the cicadas of the Platypleura plumosa complex to highlight the importance of catchments and their associated watersheds in driving diversification of terrestrial invertebrates that lack an aquatic life-stage. Population structure was found to correspond to primary and in some cases secondary catchments; highlighting the need to include information on catchment structure when formulating hypotheses of population diversification. Recognizing that climate change in the near future is likely to alter the environment, and particularly precipitation patterns, insight into recent patterns of population change related to catchments may be useful in a conservation context.
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- Date Issued: 2010
Thermal ecophysiology of seven carrion‐feeding blowflies in Southern Africa
- Authors: Richards, Cameron S , Price, Benjamin W , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/442384 , vital:73980 , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1570-7458.2009.00824.x
- Description: A variety of temperature thresholds for larvae, pupae, and adults of seven African species of carrion‐feeding blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) was measured and compared to understand their basic thermal biology and the influence of temperature on their behaviour. Calliphoraácroceipalpis (Jaennicke) had consistently lower temperature thresholds than all other species tested for all larval (42.9á░C), pupal (16.6á░C), and adult (45.6á░C) stages. Larvae (50.1á░C) and adults (53.4á░C) of Chrysomyaámarginalis (Robineau‐Desvoidy) had higher upper lethal temperature thresholds than all other species and weighed more than all other species. Pupae and adults of both Chrysomyaáalbiceps (Wiedemann) and Luciliaásericata (Meigen) had similar temperature thresholds, whereas Chrysomyaáputoria (Wiedemann), Chrysomyaáchloropyga (Wiedemann), and Chrysomyaámegacephala (Fabricius) had inconsistent rank temperature thresholds between the larval, pupal, and adult stages. With a few minor exceptions, the nervous activity, muscle activity, and death thresholds in female adult flies responded at higher temperatures than conspecific male flies for all species tested. Similarly, female adult flies weighed consistently more than conspecific male flies for all species tested, except Ca.ácroceipalpis. These data suggest that there is a phylogenetic component to the thermal biology of blowflies, because Ca.ácroceipalpis belongs to a primarily Holarctic genus and shows adaptation to that climate even though it inhabits Africa. Comparisons between these temperature thresholds and the distributions of blowfly species present on three rhinoceros carcasses suggest that blowfly larvae with high upper lethal temperature thresholds (particularly C.ámarginalis) dominate in interspecific competition on the carcass by raising the temperature of the amassed maggots above the thresholds of other carrion‐feeding blowflies, through metabolically generated heat.
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- Date Issued: 2009
Patterns and processes underlying evolutionary significant units in the Platypleura stridula L. species complex (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) in the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa
- Authors: Price, Benjamin W , Barker, Nigel P , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6964 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012027
- Description: Cicadas have been shown to be useful organisms for examining the effects of distribution, plant association and geographical barriers on gene flow between populations. The cicadas of the Platypleura stridula species complex are restricted to the biologically diverse Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. They are thus an excellent study group for elucidating the mechanisms by which hemipteran diversity is generated and maintained in the CFR. Phylogeographical analysis of this species complex using mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) and ribosomal 16S sequence data, coupled with preliminary morphological and acoustic data, resolves six clades, each of which has specific host-plant associations and distinct geographical ranges. The phylogeographical structure implies simultaneous or near-simultaneous radiation events, coupled with shifts in host-plant associations. When calibrated using published COI and 16S substitution rates typical for related insects, these lineages date back to the late Pliocene - early Pleistocene, coincident with vegetation change, altered drainage patterns and accelerated erosion in response to neotectonic crustal uplift and cyclic Pleistocene climate change, and glaciation-associated changes in climate and sea level.
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- Date Issued: 2007