Ancient trans-Atlantic flight explains locust biogeography: molecular phylogenetics of Schistocerca

The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) has been an important agricultural pest at least since biblical times. Although the ecology, physiology and behaviour of this insect species have been well characterized, its biogeographical origins and evolutionary history are more obscure. Schistocerca gre...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society. B, Biological sciences Biological sciences, 2006-04, Vol.273 (1588), p.767-774
Main Authors: Lovejoy, N.R, Mullen, S.P, Sword, G.A, Chapman, R.F, Harrison, R.G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
Animals
Asia, Western
Behavior, Animal
Biogeography
Biological taxonomies
desert insects
Desert Locust
DNA, Mitochondrial - genetics
Ecosystem
Flight, Animal
Genetic Variation
Grasshoppers - classification
Grasshoppers - genetics
Grasshoppers - physiology
Gregarious Behaviour
Insect swarming
Locusts
Middle East
migration behavior
Mitochondrial DNA
Molecular Phylogeny
Phylogenetics
Phylogeny
provenance
Schistocerca
Schistocerca gregaria
Swarming
Swords
Taxa
Western hemisphere
zoogeography
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria) has been an important agricultural pest at least since biblical times. Although the ecology, physiology and behaviour of this insect species have been well characterized, its biogeographical origins and evolutionary history are more obscure. Schistocerca gregaria occurs throughout Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia, but all other species in the genus Schistocerca are found in the New World. Because S. gregaria has the capacity for extreme long-distance movement associated with swarming behaviour, dispersal may have played an important role in determining current distribution patterns. Some authors have argued that S. gregaria is the product of an eastward trans-Atlantic dispersal from North America to Africa; others consider it more likely that the New World taxa are the product of westward dispersal from Africa. Here, we present a mitochondrial DNA phylogeny of Schistocerca species that supports the monophyly of New World species (including the Galapagos endemic Halmenus) relative to S. gregaria. In concert with observed patterns of molecular divergence, and in contrast to previous morphological studies, our analysis indicates a single trans-Atlantic flight from Africa to South America, followed by extensive speciation and ecological divergence in the New World.
ISSN:0962-8452
1471-2954
DOI:10.1098/rspb.2005.3381