Abstract
Among the four closely relatedPhyllotretaspeciesP. dilatataThomson, 1866,P. flexuosa(Illiger, 1794),P. ochripes(Curtis, 1837) andP. tetrastigma(Comolli, 1837) several systematic problems occur due to the existence of colour pattern variation and morphological similarity. All four species feed on Brassicaceae, butP. tetrastigma,P. flexuosaandP. dilatataare monophagous in the field, whereasP. ochripesis oligophagous. Genetic differentiation and systematic relationships of the four species are studied by means of allozyme electrophoresis of 10 variable loci, with a total of 30 allelomorphs. Of the six alleles that are present only in a single species, none is diagnostic. Rogers modified genetic distance and Cavalli-Sforza & Edwards arc distance between all populations are calculated and Distance Wagner trees are constructed, revealing three major groups.P. ochripesis separated first, being the most distant species. The three other species are more closely related, and within this groupP. dilatatais separated from the other two. The last group contains the populations ofP. tetrastigmaandP. flexuosa. In the differentiation between the different species host plant shifts and consequent genetic differentiation have been important.
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