The Neotropical Polymorphic Earless Praying Mantises PDF Download

The Mantodea, or praying mantises, are a lineage of cryptic predatory insects with a history of rampant evolutionary convergence in their cryptic strategies. Historical emphasis on multiply-evolved character states related to crypsis resulted in largely phenetic classification schemes. Although praying mantises are the subject of renewed interest in both basic and applied research, the lack of a phylogenetic framework encumbers research on these organisms. This dissertation uses phylogenetic methods to investigate relationships in a unique branch of the mantodean tree of life: the polymorphic earless praying mantises (PEPM), a Neotropical assemblage comprising ~55% of mantodean diversity in the region. The overarching goals of this dissertation are to: (a) construct a new higher-level classification of the PEPM; (b) establish the morphological limits of all supraspecific taxa, providing updated diagnoses for each one; and (c) reconstruct an evolutionary timeline of the PEPM. Using molecular phylogenetic analyses, relationships among higher-level taxonomic groups were resolved with high levels of nodal support. These analyses also revealed numerous inconsistencies with current classifications. Reconciling phylogeny and classification required eleven new synonymies at the species-group level, and a further four synonymys and 40 new combinations at the genus-group level. The PEPM, now assigned to the superfamily Acanthopoidea, include 8 families, 15 subfamilies, 18 tribes, 63 genera (all morphologically redefined), and 315 valid species. Historical biogeographic analyses revealed that higher-level diversification occurred in mesic biomes throughout the Cretaceous Period, Crown diversification occurred during the Cenozoic (Paleogene/Neogene) Period, when punctuated evolutionary shifts to more seasonal, drier, biomes likely occurred in response to cyclical climatic fluctuations. The implications of this pattern of diversification, and potential drivers of mantodean diversity, are discussed.