Mecopodinae

Mugleston, Joseph D., Naegle, Michael, Song, Hojun & Whiting, Michael F., 2018, A Comprehensive Phylogeny of Tettigoniidae (Orthoptera: Ensifera) Reveals Extensive Ecomorph Convergence and Widespread Taxonomic Incongruence, Insect Systematics and Diversity (AIFB) 2 (4), No. 5, pp. 1-27 : 25

Mecopodinae Group

Mecopodinae , Phyllophorinae, and two New World taxa currently listed under Pseudophyllinae ( Goethalsiella (Hebard, 1927) and Ischnomela (Stål, 1873)) form a clade sister to the remaining Phaneropteroid clade ( Fig. 16 ). Goethalsiella and Ischnomela (Ischnomelini) are sister to the remaining Mecopodinae group and their position away from the remaining Neotropical Pseudophyllinae brings further question to the validity of the characters used to define the false-leaf katydids and the continued use of Pseudophyllinae .The Australian Phricta spinosa (Redtenbacher, 1892) is nested within the mecopodine tribe Sexavaini .This genus was originally included within Mecopodinae ( Kirby 1906) but later moved to Pseudophyllinae in the tribe Phrictini based on adult specimens sharing more characters with Pseudophyllinae including strongly marginated antennae and a thoracic auditory spiracle that is small, uncovered, and inconspicuous ( Rentz et al. 2005). However, Rentz et al. (2005) did recognize that some characters resembled Mecopodinae including the open tibial auditory tympanum and they mentioned further work was necessary. The well-supported position nested in Sexavaini indicates Phricta should be within the tribe Sexavaini and not remain in Pseudophyllinae . The subfamily Phyllophorinae is also nested within the Mecopodinae group. Phyllophorines are unique in that males lack the stridulatory regions responsible for the katydid ‘song’. In addition to lack of wing stridulation, this subfamily is also identified by the large dentate or crenulate margins of the pronotum ( Rentz 1979). It is evident, however, that this monophyletic subfamily is nested within the Mecopodinae group and may require further revision as future work revises the taxonomy of this group.

Figures

Fig. 16. Early Phaneropteroid clade lineages and Mecopodinae group.Vertical bars indicate subtribes, tribes, and subfamilies. Paraphyletic groups are marked with an asterisk. Posterior probability values over 90 are marked with a circle at the node. Photo credits are as follows: (Ischnomela sp.) (Stål, 1873) Joseph Mugleston, (Eumecopoda sp.) (Hebard, 1922) Hojun Song.