Morphometric analysis of genitalia and wing pattern elements in the genus Cupido (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae): are Cupido minimus and C. carswelli different species?

Abstract

In order to study the genitalia structure and the wing pattern elements of the genus Cupido, we used a statistical multivariate analysis. The aim of this work was to test the suitability of these measurements to identify the Iberian Cupido species and to provide evidence on whether C. carswelli is a valid species or not. Nine different variables were measured in the male genitalia. The Principal Component Analysis of genital variables and wing length showed that C. minimus and C. carswelli were not separated by these variables, whereas C. lorquinii and C. osiris are clearly separated from the minimus-carswelli cluster. The Discriminant Analysis confirmed these results. Using the cross validation procedure, the width of the uncus and of the aedeagus (WUNC and WED) were the main discerning variables that correctly classified 81.4% of the specimens. Eleven different variables were measured in the wing pattern analysis. The results of the Principal Component Analysis showed that the wing pattern is not useful to identify the species within the genus Cupido, even with regard to the clearly distinct species C. osiris and C. lorquinii. Our results confirm that the wing length and the genitalia provide useful characters to discriminate the Cupido species, whereas the wing pattern characters are not useful for identification. The results also support the conspecificity of the taxa C. minimus and C. carswelli as is reflected in current taxonomy and which were previously considered distinct species by some authors. (© 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)