Strepsiptera, phylogenomics and the long branch attraction problem.

The insect phylogeny has recently been the focus of renewed interest as sequencing techniques make it possible to rapidly generate large amounts of genomic or transcriptomic data for a species of interest. However large numbers of markers are not sufficient to guarantee accurate phylogenetic reconstruction, and the choice of the model of sequence evolution as well as adequate taxonomic sampling are as important for phylogenomic studies as they are for single-gene phylogenies. Recently, the sequence of the genome of a Strepsiptera has been published and used to place Strepsiptera as a sister group to Coleoptera. This exciting result seems to put an end to the 220 year-long controversy that has plagued research on this group of highly diverged, fast evolving species. However it relies on a data set with a very limited taxonomic sampling, and has not yet been tested with models that are robust against the Long Branch Attraction artifact. Here we sequenced the transcriptomes of seven key species to obtain a data set of 35 species to study the phylogeny of insects, with a particular focus on Neuropteroida (Coleoptera, Strepsiptera, Neuroptera). Using the GTR+Γ, CAT+Γ and CATGTR+Γ models we find a highly resolved phylogeny that confirms the position of Strepsiptera and brings new light into the phylogeny of Neuropteroida.