The present study focused on the evolution of the karyotype in four genera of the tribe Pholidopterini: Eupholidoptera Mařan, 1953, Parapholidoptera Mařan, 1953, Pholidoptera Wesmaël, 1838, Uvarovistia Mařan, 1953. Chromosomes were analyzed using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with 18S rDNA and (TTAGG) n telomeric probes, and classical techniques, such as C-banding, silver impregnation and fluorochrome DAPI/CMA3 staining. Most species retained the ancestral diploid chromosome number 2n = 31 (male) or 32 (female), while some of the taxa, especially a group of species within genus Pholidoptera, evolved a reduced chromosome number 2n = 29. All species show the same sex determination system X0/XX. In some taxa, a pericentric inversion has changed the morphology of the ancestral acrocentric X chromosome to the biarmed X. The rDNA loci coincided with active NORs and C-band/CG-rich segments. A comparison of the location of the single rDNA/NOR in the genus Pholidoptera suggests that reduced chromosome number results from Robertsonian translocation between two pairs of autosomes, one carrying the rDNA/NOR. The results constitute a step towards better understanding of the chromosomal reorganization and evolution within the tribe Phaneropterini and the whole subfamily Tettigoniinae.
Keywords: 18S rDNA; C-banding; FISH; NOR; Orthoptera; Pholidopterini; fluorochrome staining; karyotype; telomeric DNA.