Multilocus phylogenetics of Palearctic Amelini shed light on the long-standing taxonomic puzzle of the dwarf-mantises Ameles, Pseudoyersinia, and Apteromantis

The tribe Amelini traditionally includes three genera of Palearctic, ground-dwelling dwarf-mantises: Ameles, Pseudoyersinia, and Apteromantis, whose phylogeny and taxonomy are among the oldest and most debated ones in the order Mantodea. Many taxonomic rearrangements over the last two centuries produced a puzzle of names and putative relationships between species and between genera, making these mantids a real systematics conundrum. The present study reports, for the first time, on a multilocus phylogeny based on three mitochondrial and one nuclear markers of fifteen representative species of these genera, to be compared with traditional morphological systematics and biogeography of these mantids. Strikingly, Ameles, Pseudoyersinia, and Apteromantis resulted in a single monophyletic group, with the analyzed Pseudoyersinia species scattered across the tree. Besides, the traditional subdivision of the species was found to be essentially correct and well-supported. The distribution and validity of morphological characters traditionally used to identify the species are also discussed.