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Revision of M ecinus heydenii species complex ( C urculionidae): integrative taxonomy reveals multiple species exhibiting host specialization
Author(s) -
Toševski Ivo,
Caldara Roberto,
Jović Jelena,
Baviera Cosimo,
HernándezVera Gerardo,
Gassmann Andre,
Emerson Brent C.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
zoologica scripta
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.204
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1463-6409
pISSN - 0300-3256
DOI - 10.1111/zsc.12037
Subject(s) - biology , subspecies , rostrum , taxonomy (biology) , botany , species complex , genetic divergence , host (biology) , zoology , ecology , gene , genus , phylogenetic tree , genetic diversity , genetics , population , demography , sociology
A combined taxonomic, morphological, molecular and biological study revealed that the species presently named M ecinus heydenii is actually composed of five different species: M . heydenii Wencker, 1866; M. raphaelis B aviera & C aldara sp. n., M . laeviceps Tournier, 1873; M. peterharrisi Toševski & Caldara sp. n. and M . bulgaricus Angelov, 1971. These species can be distinguished from each other by a few subtle characteristics, mainly in the shape of the rostrum and body of the penis, and the colour of the integument. The first four species live on different species of L inaria plants, respectively, L . vulgaris (L.) P . Mill., L . purpurea ( L .) P . Mill. L . genistifolia ( L .) P . Mill. and L . dalmatica ( L .) P . Mill., whereas the host plant of M . bulgaricus is still unknown. An analysis of mt COII gene sequence data revealed high genetic divergence among these species, with uncorrected pairwise distances of 9% between M . heydenii and M . raphaelis , 11.5% between M . laeviceps, M . heydenii and M . raphaelis , while M . laeviceps and M . peterharrisi are approximately 6.3% divergent from each other. M ecinus bulgaricus exhibits even greater divergence from all these species and is more closely related to M . dorsalis Aubé, 1850. Sampled populations of M . laeviceps form three geographical subspecies: M . laeviceps laeviceps , M . laeviceps meridionalis Toševski & Jović and M . laeviceps corifoliae Toševski & Jović. These subspecies show clear genetic clustering with uncorrected mt DNA COII divergences of approximately 1.4% from each other.