Phylogeny of locusts and grasshoppers reveals complex evolution of density-dependent phenotypic plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Locusts are grasshoppers that can form dense migrating swarms through an extreme form of density-dependent phenotypic plasticity, known as locust phase polyphenism. We present a comprehensive phylogeny of the genus Schistocerca, which contains both non-swarming grasshoppers and swarming locusts. We find that the desert locust, S. gregaria, which is the only Old World representative of the genus, is the earliest diverging lineage. This suggests that the common ancestor of Schistocerca must have been a swarming locust that crossed the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America approximately 6 million years ago, giving rise to the current diversity in the New World. This also implies that density-dependent phenotypic plasticity is an ancestral trait for the genus. Through ancestral character recon

SUBMITTER: Song H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5529561 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature