Mitochondrial Phylogenomics of Tenthredinidae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinoidea) Supports the Monophyly of Megabelesesinae as a Subfamily
Citation
Niu, G., Jiang, S., Doğan, Ö., Korkmaz, E. M., Budak, M., Wu, D., & Wei, M. (2021). Mitochondrial Phylogenomics of Tenthredinidae (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinoidea) Supports the Monophyly of Megabelesesinae as a Subfamily. Insects, 12(6), 495.Abstract
Tenthredinidae represents one of the external feeders of the most diverse superfamily, Ten-
thredinoidea, with diverse host plant utilization. In this study, four complete mitochondrial genomes
(mitogenomes), those of Cladiucha punctata, Cladiucha magnoliae, Megabeleses magnoliae, and Megabeleses
liriodendrovorax, are newly sequenced and comparatively analyzed with previously reported tenthredinid
mitogenomes. The close investigation of mitogenomes and the phylogeny of Tenthredinidae leads us to the
following conclusions: The subfamilial relationships and phylogenetic placements within Tenthredinidae
are mostly found to be similar to the previously suggested phylogenies. However, the present phylogeny
supports the monophyly of Megabelesesinae as a subfamily, with the sister-group placement of Cladiucha
and Megabeleses outside of Allantinae. The occurrence of the same type of tRNA rearrangements (MQI and
ANS1ERF) in the mitogenomes of Megabelesesinae species and the presence of apomorphic morphological
characters also provide robust evidence for this new subfamily. The divergence and diversification times
of the subfamilies appear to be directly related to colonization of the flowering plants following the Early
Cretaceous. The origin time and diversification patterns of Megabelesesinae were also well matched with
the divergence times of their host plants from Magnoliaceae.