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Phylogeographic pointers to conservation needs: S outh A frica's flagship dung beetle, Ci rcellium bacchus
Author(s) -
Sole Catherine L.,
Scholtz Clarke H.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
insect conservation and diversity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1752-4598
pISSN - 1752-458X
DOI - 10.1111/icad.12011
Subject(s) - dung beetle , carnivore , population , phylogeography , flagship species , biology , ecology , mitochondrial dna , geography , habitat , zoology , phylogenetics , endangered species , scarabaeidae , biochemistry , demography , sociology , gene , predation
Circellium bacchus is South Africa's largest ball‐rolling dung beetle and a habitat specialist of dense bush. It is also wingless, a rare phenomenon amongst large dung beetles and, unusual for the group, only females construct and bury brood balls. She cares for the single brood for 4–5 months, and lives for 3–5 years. The beetles currently occur in two separate populations in South Africa, one in the south‐east and one consisting of at least eight fragmented sub‐populations in the south‐west. Here, we use both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences to infer the evolutionary history of this species. The Eastern and Western populations are genetically separated by 14% mitochondrial sequence divergence, sharing only a single nuclear haplotype. Mitochondrial and nuclear data indicate that C . bacchus belongs to an ancient ( E ocene) relict lineage and that the Eastern and Western populations appear to have been separated by Pliocene continental uplift and a relictual Pleistocene block of temperate forest. Subsequent P lio‐ P leistocene climatic change caused further fragmentation of the W estern population, now exacerbated by human‐induced land transformation. The E astern and W estern populations are identifiable as two distinctly separate entities of possible species status, but with definite need for recognition as evolutionary significant units. The Western sub‐populations are genetically significantly different enough to be defined and recognised as management units. The Eastern population is largely distributed in the A ddo E lephant N ational P ark where its persistence is currently secure, but the sub‐populations of the Western lineage occur as fragments of various sizes in a matrix of agriculturally transformed landscape.