Abstract
The pine processionary moth (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is an important pest of coniferous forests at the southern edge of its range in Maghreb. Based on mitochondrial markers, a strong genetic differentiation was previously found in this species between western (pityocampa clade) and eastern Maghreb populations (ENA clade), with the contact zone between the clades located in Algeria. We focused on the moth range in Algeria, using both mitochondrial (a 648 bp fragment of the tRNA‐cox2) and nuclear (11 microsatellite loci) markers. A further analysis using a shorter mtDNA fragment and the same microsatellite loci was carried out on a transect in the contact zone between the mitochondrial clades. Mitochondrial diversity showed a strong geographical structure and a well‐defined contact zone between the two clades. In particular, in the pityocampa clade, two inner subclades were found whereas ENA did not show any further structure. Microsatellite analysis outlined a different pattern of differentiation, with two main groups not overlapping with the mitochondrial clades. The inconsistency between mitochondrial and nuclear markers is probably explained by sex‐biased dispersal and recent afforestation efforts that have bridged isolated populations.
Highlights
Determining species boundaries in a set of closely related species is essential for biodiversity and evolutionary studies as well as for pest management and other areas of applied biology
A strong genetic differentiation was previously found in this species between western and eastern Maghreb populations (ENA clade), with the contact zone between the clades located in Algeria
We focused on the moth range in Algeria, using both mitochondrial (a 648 bp fragment of the tRNA-cox2) and nuclear (11 microsatellite loci) markers
Summary
Determining species boundaries in a set of closely related species is essential for biodiversity and evolutionary studies as well as for pest management and other areas of applied biology. The winter pine processionary moth is a complex of two closely related and morphologically very similar species, Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis and Schiffermu€ller), and Thaumetopoea wilkinsoni (Tams), with T. pityocampa found in southern Europe and northern Africa, and T. wilkinsoni in the Near East. They diverged at the end of the Miocene (7.5 Mya; Kerdelhue et al 2009). Both species show a strong phylogeographic structure (Salvato et al 2002; Simonato et al 2007), which seems to be linked to the limited dispersal of female moths (Battisti et al 2015) and to past climatic events (Kerdelhue et al 2015)
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