A molecular phylogenetic and phylogeographic study of two forms of Calliptamus barbarus (Costa 1836) (Orthoptera: Acrididae, Calliptaminae) from two regions of Algeria

Abstract

Calliptamus barbarus (Orthoptera: Acrididae) is the most polymorphic species within the genus Calliptamus. It shows a morphological polymorphism (three hind femoral spots, or only one hind femoral spot). Several studies have been made in order to distinguish the two forms: morphometry, number of ovarioles, sound production, protein and enzyme system. The aim of our work is to assess whether the two forms can be considered as different taxa and to perform a molecular phylogenetic study of two populations of C. barbarus collected from two different Algerian localities. No clear genetic differentiation was found between the samples with different morphologies. Additionally, the samples from Algeria do not form a monophyletic sister clade compared to the one formed by the sequences from GenBank from other geographical regions. Despite the morphological differences shown between the two populations, our molecular study indicates that there are no differences at a molecular level using the two mitochondrial genes COI and 16S.