China News Service, Beijing, March 29 (Reporter Sun Zifa) Professor Liu Xingyue from the Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, was interviewed by reporters on the 29th and revealed that his scientific research team is based on newly collected larvae from the Chawalon Dry-hot Valley in Tibet in recent years. Specimens were collected, and a new genus "Chinese genus" and a new species "Zanghuajingfei" unique to China were discovered. At the same time, the research revealed the evolutionary history of the subfamily Tetraideae to which the Tibetan Chinese jinglefly belongs, and clarified the taxonomic status of another Chinese jinglefly, Sinensis sinensis (a national second-level protected wild animal).
Ecological photos of the Tibetan cypress newly discovered in this study. Photo by Zheng Yuchen/
The research paper on the discovery of this new genus and species of this important and rare insect was recently published in an internationally renowned paper titled "Mysterious Treasures Originating from Africa: The Evolutionary History of the Endangered Phytophthora in China (Neuroptera: Phytophthidae: Phytophthinae)" Published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
Liu Xingyue, the corresponding author of the paper, pointed out that in this study, the scientific research team revealed the evolution of the subfamilies (Neuroptera: Pryptidae) through classical taxonomy, comparative morphology, integrated phylogenetic analysis and biogeographic analysis. History; research has clarified the taxonomic status of the rare insect species Sinensis sinensis in China, which should represent a new genus Sinensis subfamily Sinensis subfamily, and does not belong to the African-specific genus Sinensis in which this species was originally placed. At the same time, based on the collection team of the National Animal Specimen Resource Bank led by Liang Hongbin of the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zheng Yuchen, the first author of this research paper and a doctoral candidate at the School of Plant Protection of China Agricultural University, collected larvae from the Tsavalong Dry-hot Valley in Tibet. Specimens, a new species of the genus Sinojingae was discovered. So far, China has recorded two species of Chrysanthemums (M. sinensis and C. tibetanensis), which are distributed in two hot dry valleys of the Nujiang River, and are both endemic to China.
Ecological photos of the Chinese Jingnyi, another species of jinglefly in China. Wu Chao/photo
Species of the subfamily Tetraideae are medium-sized, with their mouthparts mostly modified into beaks for feeding pollen, and their hind wings specialized into slender streamers, which play a role in balancing flight and adapting to windy environments. Different from the Chinese jingle fly, the newly discovered Tibetan jingle fly has shorter mouthparts, more white parts on the body surface, and the extended part of the hind wings is narrower than the former. At the same time, there are also significant differences in the male external genitalia of the two. Species of the family Chrysanthemumidae are fragmented and distributed in Mediterranean climate zones around the world. They like heat and dryness. Some dry-hot valleys in China have similar climates, which breeds unique groups such as Chrysanthemum japonicus.
Overall photo of adults of the genus Sinensis: A: Sinensis (Yang, 1986); B: Tibetan Sinensis (cited from Zheng & Liu, 2024). Liu Xingyue team/photo provided
Zheng Yuchen said that the scientific research team's phylogenetic analysis based on morphological and molecular integration data revealed the evolutionary history and distribution pattern of the subfamily Tetrapodinae. The two sister branches are the branch line and the long-belly clade. Historical biogeographic analysis has found that the living subfamily Pyropodinae originated in Africa during the Late Cretaceous and underwent significant differentiation in the Cenozoic. The short-bellied sphinx clade is restricted to the savanna zone in the southern part of the African continent; the long-bellied sphinx clade has its ancestors distributed on the African continent, but three large-scale dispersions occurred from the Eocene to the Miocene, through Gondwana. The land bridges between ancient continental plates and the complex desertification changes in North Africa and Western Asia have spread to the world.
The phylogeny of the subfamily Aphrodinae based on the mitochondrial genome + partial nuclear genes (left) and morphological character data (right). Liu Xingyue team/photo provided
Among them, the genus Sinensis, which is endemic to East Asia, is most closely related to the branch lineage of A. longifolia in the African tropics. Before the Miocene, the uplift of the Himalayan Mountains and surrounding mountains was relatively slow, which provided more favorable conditions for the common ancestor of S. sinensis and related genera in Africa to spread to East Asia. With the rapid uplift of the Himalayas and the surrounding Hengduan Mountains, the ancient Red River was divided into three main rivers: the Nujiang River, the Lancang River and the Jinsha River. Dry-hot valleys along these rivers were also formed. During this period, the ancestors of the genus Sinensis may have been restricted to this dry and hot valley area and diverged from closely related genera in Africa.
In the late Pleistocene, as the evergreen broad-leaved forests in the Himalayas and surrounding mountains expanded and rainfall increased, most of the surrounding areas became wetter, resulting in the shrinkage of habitats for species that prefer hot and dry habitats. Drastic changes in habitat and elevation gradient led to species differentiation in the Chawalong section and the Baoshan-Lushui section of the Nujiang dry-hot valley. Eventually, the fragmented dry-hot valley across the mountainous area became a refuge for the East Asian giant fly.
Combining molecular and morphological data to understand the spatial and temporal patterns of system evolution and global dispersal pathways of the subfamily Pyropodinae. Liu Xingyue team/photo provided
Liu Xingyue said that in addition to discovering a new genus and species of Chrysanthemum, this study also revealed the evolutionary history of Chrysanthemum subfamily for the first time through integrated data and systematically summarized the distribution pattern of Chrysanthemum subfamily in the world, refreshing the distribution of Chrysanthemum fauna in China. The basic data have also laid a theoretical foundation for the protection of important and rare insects, including larvae and other species in hot dry valleys. (over)