Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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Author: search.filters.author.Morgan-Richards MSubject: search.filters.subject.Rhaphidophoridae

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    Cretaceous Connections Among Camel Cricket Lineages in the Himalaya Revealed Through Fossil-Calibrated Mitogenomic Phylogenetics
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2025-07-01) Dorji C; Morgan-Richards M; Trewick SA; Heller K-G
    The nocturnal, flightless camel crickets (Rhaphidophoridae) have a global distribution and are believed to have originated prior to the breakup of Pangea. We investigated the phylogeny and the timing of the radiation of East Asian species with mitogenomic data. Initially we analyzed a large taxon dataset (n = 117) using available partial mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences to confirm the monophyly of subfamilies and current taxonomy. Our findings support the monophyly of each genus within the subfamily Aemodogryllinae, with a minor inconsistency between taxonomy and phylogeny resolved by resurrection of the genus Gymnaeta Adelung. Fossil-calibrated molecular clock analysis used 11,124 bp alignment of 13 complete mitochondrial protein-coding genes for 20 species of Rhaphidophoridae, with a focus on the neglected Rhaphidophorinae and Aemodogryllinae lineages. Divergence time estimates suggest that the most recent common ancestor of the family lived during the Early Jurassic (189 Mya ± 23 Mya) before Pangea broke into the supercontinents or possibly during the early stage of breakup when Gondwana and Laurasia were still connected by land. The two subfamilies, Rhaphidophorinae and Aemodogryllinae, that overlap in Asia are estimated to have diverged 138 Mya ± 17 Mya, well before the Late Cretaceous northern connection between America and Asia (the Bering Land Bridge). Thus, our extended sampling of species from East Asia and Oceania refutes the importance of continental drift in the evolution of this wingless orthopteran family.
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    Revision of the New Zealand cave wētā genus Isoplectron Hutton (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae), with synonymy of Petrotettix Richards and Setascutum Richards, and the description of a new genus
    (EJT Consortium, 2024-12-10) Hegg D; Morgan-Richards M; Trewick SA; Robillard T; Tan MK; Pepe F
    The New Zealand cave wētā genus Isoplectron was first described by Hutton (1896) and included two species, Isoplectron armatum and I. calcaratum. Two more species, I. cochleatum and I. aciculatum, were described by Karny in 1935 and in 1937, respectively. The species I. cochleatum was later moved to the genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893. Here we clarify the status and appearance of all known species of Isoplectron, and of other closely related cave wētā. Based on morphology and mtDNA sequences we determine that the genera Petrotettix Richards, 1972 and Setascutum Richards, 1972, belong in Isoplectron, and are thus synonymised with the latter. We also infer that Isoplectron aciculatum Karny, 1937 does not hold species rank, and that it should be considered a subspecies of Isoplectron armatum instead. The male of Isoplectron pallidum (Richards, 1972) comb. nov. and the female of Isoplectron armatum aciculatum Karny, 1937 are described here for the first time. Using molecular data, we also establish that two new species that are morphologically similar to Isoplectron are in fact more closely related to Pharmacus. These species are assigned to a new genus, Praecantrix gen. nov. We describe seven new species and two new subspecies of New Zealand rhaphidophorids belonging to the genera Isoplectron Hutton, 1896 and Praecantrix: Isoplectron bicolor sp. nov., I. maculatum sp. nov., I. virgatum sp. nov., I. ferratum sp. nov., I. parallelum sp. nov., Praecantrix silvatica silvatica gen., sp. et subsp. nov., P. silvatica lutea gen., sp. et subsp. nov. and P. saxicola gen. et sp. nov. Species demoted to subspecies rank: Isoplectron aciculatum Karny, 1937 becomes Isoplectron armatum aciculatum Karny, 1937. New combinations: Setascutum pallidum Richards, 1972 becomes Isoplectron pallidum (Richards, 1972) comb. nov.; Petrotettix serratus Richards, 1972 becomes Isoplectron serratum (Richards, 1972) comb. nov. New synonyms: Isoplectron calcaratum Hutton, 1896 = Isoplectron armatum Hutton, 1896 syn. nov.; Setascutum ohauensis Richards, 1972 = Isoplectron armatum Hutton, 1896 syn. nov.; Petrotettix spinosus Richards, 1972 = Isoplectron serratum (Richards, 1972) syn. nov.; Petrotettix cupolaensis Richards, 1972 = Isoplectron serratum (Richards, 1972) syn. nov.; Petrotettix nigripes Richards, 1972 = Isoplectron serratum (Richards, 1972) syn. nov.
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    High alpine sorcerers: Revision of the cave wētā genus Pharmacus Pictet & de Saussure (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae: Macropathinae), with the description of six new species and three new subspecies
    (Consortium of European Natural History Museums, 2022-04-04) Hegg D; Morgan-Richards M; Trewick SA; Robillard T; Tan M-K; Fernández P
    The New Zealand alpine cave wētā genus Pharmacus was first described by Pictet & de Saussure (1893) as a monotypic taxon. Three species were added to the genus by Richards in 1972. Here we clarify the status and appearance of all known species of Pharmacus. Based on morphology and mtDNA sequences we determine that the species Pharmacus brewsterensis Richards, 1972 is better placed within the genus Notoplectron Richards, 1964. We also resolve the species Isoplectron cochleatum Karny, 1935 and show that it belongs to the genus Pharmacus. Additionally, we describe six new species and three new subspecies from the southern regions of South Island, New Zealand. We provide key traits and known distributions for all known species and subspecies in this alpine genus. New combinations: Pharmacus brewsterensis Richards, 1972 becomes Notoplectron brewsterense (Richards, 1972) comb. nov.; Isoplectron cochleatum Karny, 1935 becomes Pharmacus cochleatus (Karny, 1935) comb. nov. New species and subspecies: Pharmacus cochleatus rawhiti subsp. nov., Pharmacus cochleatus fiordensis subsp. nov., Pharmacus cochleatus nauclerus subsp. nov., Pharmacus concinnus sp. nov., Pharmacus cristatus sp. nov., Pharmacus notabilis sp. nov., Pharmacus perfidus sp. nov., Pharmacus senex sp. nov. and Pharmacus vallestris sp. nov. New synonyms: Pharmacus dumbletoni Richards, 1972 = Pharmacus montanus Pictet & de Saussure, 1893 syn. nov.; Pharmacus chapmanae Richards, 1972 = Pharmacus cochleatus (Karny, 1935) syn. nov.