Gradual evolution of male genitalia in a sibling species complex of millipedes (Diplopoda : Spirobolida : Rhinocricidae : Anadenobolus)

Abstract

Jamaican millipedes in the Anadenobolus species complex provide an unusual case study of arthropods having undergone speciation in the absence of conspicuous divergence of male genitalia. Using landmark-based morphometrics, we examined shape deformation of the male anterior copulatory device in three genetically divergent yet morphologically cryptic species. A multivariate analysis of variance and relative warp analysis of nonuniform components show that although male genitalic shape is statistically different among species, many specimens are 'misplaced' in morphological space, perhaps consistent with a condition analogous to incomplete lineage sorting. A simulation of neutral nuclear gene coalescence suggests that such incomplete sorting is expected, given the depth of mtDNA divergences observed across species. The pronounced contrast between deep molecular v. incomplete genitalic divergence is at odds with the paradigm of selection-driven rapid change in male copulatory structure during arthropod speciation. Alternatively, we suggest that male genitalic divergence is evolving neutrally or in concert with other components of the genome (pleiotropy). Although we recognise the empirical validity of rapid genitalic divergence via sexual selection or sexual conflict, such models must be empirically tested using multiple lines of evidence. Accepting the rapid and divergent hypothesis without such multiple evidence scrutiny may result in a gross underestimation of evolutionary diversity and, subsequently, the misinterpretation of processes shaping genitalic change.