Taxonomic study of the genus Aphonoides (Orthoptera: Oecanthidae: Podoscirtinae) in China

This study presents a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the genus Aphonoides Chopard, 1940 in China, integrating morphological examination with molecular phylogenetics. As a result, we describe a new species, A. ouyue He & Wei, sp. n., from China, and synonymize A. aspidoid Zheng et al., 2021, syn. n. with A. japonicus (Shiraki, 1930). We also upgrade A. medvedevi alius Gorochov, 2007 to species status as A. alius Gorochov, stat. n., remove A. tessellatus Chopard, 1969, A. punctatus (Haan, 1844) and A. fuscirostris (Chopard, 1969) from the Chinese fauna, and provide the first description of the genitalia for A. wuyiensis Yin & Zhang, 2001. Molecular analysis of the COI gene (658 bp), including Aphonoides and Mistshenkoana Gorochov, 1990, reconstructs a phylogenetic tree confirming that both genera are monophyletic. The results also strongly support the current morphological classification of Aphonoides.