Dr James Bickerstaff¹, Dr  Renee Catullo², Mr Oliver Stuart³, Dr Kate  Umbers⁴

¹CSIRO ANIC, Canberra, Australia, ²School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, ³Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, ⁴School of Science, Western Sydney University, Richmond, Australia

Biography:

James Bickerstaff is a postdoctoral researcher at the Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO. He completed his PhD at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University in 2021 where he worked on the phytogeography and microbial ecology of Australian ambrosia beetles. He specialises in the systematics, genomics and microbial ecology of bark and ambrosia beetles. He is broadly interested in the utility of genome sequence data of all domains of life, including strange and colourful Katydids. Additionally, he’s interested in the intersection of the utility of museum collections and genomics to understand biodiversity and the application of this for insect conservation research and management.

Abstract:

Museum and natural history collections house a treasure trove of the world’s biodiversity that serves as an important resource for many aspects of biological and ecological work. In recent years, these collections have become an increasingly important resource for genomics. Museomic genetic data have been highly useful in phylogenetic and systematic research and can also inform biodiversity and conservation management. Little work has been conducted on the application of museomics in insect conservation and population genomics.

The mountain katydid, Acripeza reticulata, is a widespread Tettigoniid that is distributed throughout eastern and southern Australia. This monotypic genus is sexually dimorphic, with winged males and flightless females. Moreover, this species is well known for their charismatic colouration and deimatic behaviour. Despite the common name, the mountain katydid, A. reticulata is not restricted to mountainous regions in Australia. Collection metadata suggests a widespread distribution of the species across the Great Dividing Range, inland Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia (following the Murray Darling Basin) and also throughout Tasmania.

In this study we utilised DartSeq (ddRadSeq) to conduct a population genomics study on freshly caught and museum material sampled throughout their distribution. Genome wide SNP markers suggest hitherto undescribed cryptic diversity, with several disjunct populations occurring throughout the Great Dividing Range with multiple barriers to gene flow found in the Australian Alpine region. Additionally, results suggest gene flow throughout populations distributed along the Murray Darling Basin. These results, in combination with morphological observations, suggest that there may be several undescribed species of Acripeza distributed throughout Australia, with three alone in the Alps. These results further signify the potential conservation risks posed to this charismatic katydid in the face of ongoing climate change and declining habitat quality  in the Australian Alps.