Molecular Evaluations and Genetic Divergence of Erynnis tages and Erynnis marloyi (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae) Based on mtCOI Gene with Turkey Populations

Sibel Kizildağ

doi:10.29133/yyutbd.766796

Abstract

Erynnis tages and Erynnis marloyi were known as European species until recent years. Due to their narrow distribution areas, the morphological similarities of the two species were very high, and their status was controversial. However, as the records of these species came from the new regions, their distribution areas turned out to be wide, contrary to what is known. With the mtCOI gene barcode, there was a chance to identify genetic variations hidden between inter-species and intra-species. The present study was the first time the barcode characterization of populations in Turkey and other registered population of barcodes with the genetic variation were assessed. Phylogenetic trees based on mt COI gene sequences were created using Neighbor-joining, Bayesian inference, and maximum-likelihood algorithms. Genetic divergence was confirmed by Automatic Barcode Gap Analysis using the Kimura 2 parameter. It is genetically confirmed that E.tages and E.marloyi are two distinct species independent from each other. E.tages population of Turkey was found genetically similar to that of the population belonging to southern Italy. Southern Russia was also genetically similar. However, E. marloyi Turkey's population was genetically similar to the population of Iran.

Highlights

The genus Erynnis (Schrank, 1801), known as the dusky-wing butterflies of the Hesperiidae family, includes more than 27 species
In addition genetic distance between populations of E. marloyi obtained from Turkey and Iran was 0.30%
With the development of molecular biology, the concept of species identification based on ecological species and genes has been revising taxonomy established by morphological characters

Summary

Introduction

The genus Erynnis (Schrank, 1801), known as the dusky-wing butterflies of the Hesperiidae family, includes more than 27 species. New records and species descriptions are available in Neotropics and Palearctic in recent years. Among the members of this genus, the two are morphologically similar species that have long been known as European butterflies. These contain minor differences in darker color tones Dingy Skipper for Erynnis tages (Linnaeus, 1758) and Inky Skipper for Erynnis marloyi (Boisduval, 1834) with states of outmorphology (Mazzei et al, 1999). The new data regarding the distribution area of these two species (with new records coming from different geographies), necessitates the assessments at the species and population levels. New records have been reported belonging to Turkey, Lebanon, southern Iran, Armenia, and Pakistan (Koçak and Kemal, 2011)

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Results

Conclusion