Abstract
BackgroundA species of Simulium in the Simulium melanopus species-group of the subgenus Simulium (formerly misidentified as S. laterale Edwards from Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia) is suspected to have dimorphic male scutal color patterns linked with different numbers of upper-eye facets. This study aimed to confirm whether or not these two forms of adult males represent a single species.MethodsDNA sequences generated from four genetic loci, the mitochondrial-encoded COI, COII, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes, of both forms of Simulium sp. males were compared with each other and also with those of the females and larvae of the same species. Four other related Simulium spp. were also used for comparison.ResultsBoth the concatenated dataset and single-locus phylogenetic analyses indicate that the two distinct morphological males of Simulium sp. are indeed conspecific, and represent, together with their associated females and larvae, a distinct species.ConclusionsBased on DNA analyses, Simulium sp. is proven to show dimorphism in males and is herein described as a new species, Simulium mirum Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Low. This is the first report of such a novel species among the family Simuliidae.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1393-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
A species of Simulium in the Simulium melanopus species-group of the subgenus Simulium is suspected to have dimorphic male scutal color patterns linked with different numbers of upper-eye facets
38 species have been recorded from Sabah and Sarawak, all of which are classified in three subgenera of the genus Simulium: 18 species in Gomphostilbia, three species in Nevermannia and 17 species in Simulium [3,4,5,6,7]
Other related species used for comparison were S. crassimanum Edwards, S. laterale, S. nigripilosum and S. maklarini Takaoka, all Sabah members of the S. melanopus species-group [3]
Summary
A species of Simulium in the Simulium melanopus species-group of the subgenus Simulium (formerly misidentified as S. laterale Edwards from Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia) is suspected to have dimorphic male scutal color patterns linked with different numbers of upper-eye facets. In a revision of eight species of the Simulium melanopus species-group of the subgenus Simulium from Sabah, one species that was misidentified as Simulium laterale Edwards by Smart & Clifford [8], has been treated as Simulium sp. (sensu Smart & Clifford, 1969) [3]
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