Glacial refuges and cryptic speciation in a Southern Palearctic tiger beetle (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

Abstract

Pleistocene glaciations had a determining role for shaping the current distribution and diversity of organisms, especially in the Palearctic region. In this work, we carry out a phylogeographic analysis of Iberian and two Eastern European populations of the tiger beetle Calomera littoralis (Fabricius, 1787) in order to infer the processes that may have affected their evolutionary history. According to our results, the genetic diversity of central Iberian C. littoralis populations is very low. The haplotype networks also suggest that these populations experienced a genetic bottleneck in the past, possibly related to the last glacial maxima, similar to that observed in other cicindelid taxa. These results highlight the remarkable dispersal capacity of this species, being able to move freely from one locality to another, despite the relatively long distances of sub‐optimal habitat that separates them. The genetic data of central Iberian populations contrast with those of the Eastern European populations, with higher genetic diversity and no hints of any past bottleneck. This can be explained by the different characteristics of both (Iberian and Pontic) glacial refuges. The high degree of genetic differentiation between the three C. littoralis clades, and the inclusion of C. lunulata between them, suggests that the three analysed populations could be considered as different cryptic species. In that case, C. littoralis may correspond to a species complex that is still undergoing a process of speciation, similar to that observed in Cicindela campestris.