Data from: Diet evolution and clade richness in Hexapoda: a phylogenetic study of higher taxa

Hexapoda, the insects and their relatives, includes over half of all
described species. Because large proportions of this diversity cluster
within a small set of phytophagous groups, dietary-substrates have been
proposed to shape patterns of richness within the clade through
antagonistic co-evolution and zones of ecological opportunity. Here we
explore these processes in the context of a recent dated phylogeny of
Hexapod families. Our results indicate phylogenetic clustering of
specialized ecologies such as phytophagy and parasitism, but reveal no
consistent associations between the use of particular dietary substrates
and clade richness. We also find no evidence that diets expected to
promote antagonistic co-evolution are consistently associated with
elevated species richness, nor that sister clades differing in dietary
state are associated with greater-than-expected differences in richness.
We do, however, identify variation in the age of, and transition rates
among, dietary states that are likely to play a role in the observed
heterogeneity in richness among dietary classes. Based on these findings
we suggest remaining circumspect about the generality of adaptive zones
based on broad dietary groupings as an explanation for hexapod richness,
and suggest that richness heterogeneity may be better explained by
origination and transitions rates, and variation within dietary
categories.