Since Grylloblattodea was first described in 1914 (Walker), no formal phylogenetic analysis has ever been performed on ice crawlers. These fascinating insects live only in ice caves, on talus slopes near permanent ice fields, and in other similar habitats. Ice crawlers thrive at temperatures slightly above freezing and at a humidity of 70-100%. All ~25 described species are placed in one family (Grylloblattidae) and five genera: Grylloblatta in northwestern USA and western Canada; Galloisiana in Japan, Korea, eastern China and eastern Siberia; Grylloblattina in eastern Siberia; Grylloblattella in western Siberia; and the recently described Namkungia of South Korea (Storozhenko 2002). Multiple genes were sequenced for North American and Asian exemplars, morphological characters were scored, and trees reconstructed using Optimization Alignment. Cavernicolous and non-cavernicolous taxa were mapped on this topology to gain insights into the evolution of cave-dwelling behavior in ice bugs.
Species 1: Grylloblattodea Grylloblattidae (Ice crawlers, Ice bugs)
Keywords: molecular phylogeny
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