Unlocking an evolutionary chorus: A comprehensive phylogeny of Tettigoniidae (Insecta: Orthoptera)

Monday, November 11, 2024

9:36 AM – 9:48 AM MST

Location: Phoenix Convention Center, 225 A, PCC

Presenting Author(s)

Austin Baker (he/him/his)

Postdoctoral Fellow
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Monterey Park, California
SS

Seunggwan Shin

Professor
Seoul National University
Seoul, Seoul-t'ukpyolsi, Republic of Korea
DM

Duane D. McKenna

Professor
University of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
MW

Michael Whiting

Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah
FM

Fernando Montealegre-Z

University of Lincoln
Lincoln, England, United Kingdom
Hojun Song

Professor
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas

With over 8,000 described species, Tettigoniidae is a mesodiverse family in the order Orthoptera.

Commonly known as katydids or bush crickets, these insects are in the suborder Ensifera which also

includes crickets, camel crickets and Jerusalem crickets. Known for their ability to sing and hear with

complex morphologies, katydids are a fantastic model group for the study of acoustic communication and

insect behavior. To fully characterize and grasp the 150 million year old evolutionary history of this

acoustic communication, a robust phylogeny is essential. While great effort has been exerted to

understand the evolutionary relationships among katydids, many higher level relationships remain

uncertain. As such, we have investigated the relationships within Tettigoniidae with more than double the

taxon sampling of previous phylogenies and incorporated cutting edge phylogenomics to provide the

most robust phylogeny to date for the group.