Phlugidini

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 : 21

Phlugidini

Phlugidini is monophyletic and sister to the conehead katydids ( Conocephalinae ; Fig. 11 ). Phlugidini in this analysis includes the diminutive Phlugiola arborea (Nickle, 2002) which was recovered as the sister lineage to the Old World Austrophlugis ( Rentz, 2001) + the New World Phlugis . This relationship implies a more recent dispersal back to Australia. Similarities between the other Meconematinae tribes and Phlugidini are apparently convergent and may be linked to the constraints that led to the independent derivations of these small, agile predatory katydids. The paraphyly of Meconematinae was presented in earlier studies ( Mugleston et al. 2013, 2016) supporting Phlugidini being separate from Meconematinae and warranting the potential elevation of Phlugidini from a tribe within the Meconematinae to its own subfamily. Further work to revise Conocephalinae may allude to characters that link Phlugidini as an aberrant form of Conocephalinae as has been suggested (CadenaCastañeda and García 2014).

Figures

Fig. 11. Conocephalinae group: Phlugidini.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 credit:Arthur Anker.