Molecular assessment of the Italian Oedipoda Latreille, 1829 (Orthoptera, Acrididae)

The genus Oedipoda, comprising 29 species and 16 subspecies, has recently undergone a molecular revision in the Mediterranean, which significantly impacted some Italian taxa. In this study, we aimed to reassess the Italian species of Oedipoda using a molecular approach, specifically to: (a) clarify the unknown phylogenetic affinities of O. cynthiae; (b) define the distribution ranges of O. germanica and O. pentagonalis, considered as vicariants in continental and peninsular Italy; and (c) provide an updated identification key to the Italian species. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian analyses, based on two mitochondrial markers (12S, NDS) and one nuclear marker (ITS2), revealed that Oedipoda cynthiae is the sister species of O. charpentieri, indicating an intriguing disjunct biogeographic pattern. O. germanica and O. pentagonalis appear to be allopatric, although the range of O. germanica extends southward to the Po River. Interestingly, two specimens morphologically assigned to O. germanica and O. pentagonalis were nested within the clade of O. coerulea, a species not currently reported from Italy, highlighting a discrepancy between morphological and molecular data that requires further investigation. Finally, our results show that O. caerulescens sardeti does not represent a geographically coherent unit and should not be considered a valid subspecies. We therefore propose the following synonymy: O. caerulescens sardeti Defaut, 2006 = O. caerulescens caerulescens (Linnaeus, 1758), syn. n.