Grylloblattids are some of the few insects that survive and remain active in extremely cold climates. They are wingless inhabitants of Northwestern North America and Northeastern Asia that are sister group to Mantophasmatodea. During the Pleistocene, ice sheets covered large portions of North America, and as these ice sheets receded, ice crawler populations were established in their current locations. It has commonly been assumed that present populations were established both by individuals that survived the glaciation period in two general areas: the region south of the glaciation and local refugia in Alberta and British Columbia. These subsequently colonized the current distribution of the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern Canada during the melting period after the Pleistocene. Twelve Grylloblatta populations from throughout the known North American distribution were sampled for this study. Cytochrome Oxidase II, 18S ribosomal DNA, 28S ribosomal DNA and Histone-3 were sequenced and analyzed in this study in order to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships of Grylloblatta populations. Results of our phylogenetic analyses indicate that a more complex dispersal model than mentioned above is necessary in order to explain Grylloblatta distribution. Migration may have been common during the post-Pleistocene melting period. Habitat type tends to be more closely correlated with phylogenetic relatedness than does geographical closeness. Troglodytic populations tended to be closely related,
Species 1: Grylloblattodea Grylloblattidae Grylloblatta campodeiformis (ice crawlers, rock crawlers)
Species 2: Grylloblattodea Grylloblattidae Grylloblatta sculleni (ice crawlers, rock crawlers)
Species 3: Grylloblattodea Grylloblattidae Grylloblatta chirurgica (ice crawlers, rock crawlers)
Keywords: phylogeography, extremophiles
Back to Student Competition Ten-Minute Papers, A1, Systematics, Morphology, and Evolution
Back to Student Competition TMP Orals
Back to The 2003 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition