Is the subfamily Eriosomatinae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) monophyletic?

Abstract

Eriosomatinae, the gall-forming aphid subfamily, traditionally consists of 3 tribes, Eriosomatini, Pemphigini, and Fordini. However, the phylogenetic relationships among these tribes remain controversial, which has made it difficult to conduct further investigation regarding the evolution of galls and host alternations in this group. We analyzed the molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Eriosomatinae, combining sequences from 2 mitochondrial genes (COI and COII) and 2 nuclear genes (EF-1α and LWO). The reconstructions were implemented based on single-gene and multigene datasets through 3 different reconstructing algorithms, respectively; analyses with 5 different out-groups were also conducted. Results revealed a large paraphyletic clade, in which there were 4 out-groups clustering between Eriosomatini and the other 2 tribes. However, the monophyly of the 3 tribes was well supported by the obtained trees, respectively. © TÜBİTAK.