Combined molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Orthoptera (Arthropoda, Insecta) and implications for their higher systematics

A phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear rDNA sequences from species of all the superfamilies of the insect order Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets and relatives) confirmed that although mitochondrial sequences provided good resolution of the youngest superfamilies, nuclear rDNA sequences were necessary to separate the basal groups. To try to reconcile these data sets into a single fully resolved orthopteran phylogeny, we adopted consensus and combined data strategies. The consensus analysis produced a partially resolved tree, lacking several well-supported features of the individual analyses. However, this lack of resolution was explained by an examination of resampled data sets that identified the likely source of error as the relatively short length of the individual mitochondrial data partitions. In a subsequent comparison in which the mitochondrial sequences were initially combined, we observed less conflict. We then used two approaches to examine the validity of combi...