INTRASPECIFIC AND INTERSPECIFIC GENETIC DISTANCES IN ERMINE MOTHS OF THE GENUS YPONOMEUTA LATR. (LEPIDOPTERA: YPONOMEUTIDAE)

Abstract

An analysis of intraspecific variability based on the barcoding fragment mtCOI showed that species of Y. padella–complex with larger ranges are characterized by relatively larger intervals of genetic distances between representatives of different populations compared to species distributed in a limited area. Thus, for the Transpalaearctic species Y. evonymella, the intraspecific distance lies within 0–1%, while the average indices of intraspecific distances were revealed in the Euro-American Y. malinella and the European Y. irrorella (0–0,5%), and the minimal range of distances were recorded in the Euro-American Y cagnagella and European Y. rorrella (0–0,2%). For the East Asian Y. orientalis, in which samples were studied only from the Russian Far East, intraspecific variability was not revealed. The interspecific distance intervals within the Y. padella–complex turned out to be very low and with small range, not exceeding 2,6% (Y. padella – Y. orientalis, Y. padella – Y. irrorella) and 2,8% (Y. malinella – Y. irrorella, Y. malinella – Y. orientalis), which confirmed the weak divergence of the species group not only in morphological markers, but also in the barcoding fragment mtCOI. In a number of studied species, the intervals of intraspecific and interspecific distances have borderline indicators or slightly overlapping ones – 0,2% (Y. cagnagella), 0,2–0,3% (Y. padella), 0,5–0,7% (Y. malinella), which point out the unreliability of fragment COI usage to identify such weakly divergent species as the species of the Y. padella– complex. Summarizing the above, it should be concluded that identification of a number of taxa, especially relatively young and weakly divergent ones, is difficult based on the nucleotide sequences of the barcoding fragment mtCOI without the use of a complex of other markers.