Phylogenetic relationships of Dysaphis pyri (Boyer de Fonscolombe) and Dysaphis reaumuri (Mordvilko) (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha: Aphididae): COI and EF-1α evidence

Abstract

Dysaphis (Pomaphis) pyri (Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1841) and Dysaphis (Pomaphis) reaumuri (Mordvilko, 1928) are two holocyclic aphid species alternating between Pyrus (Rosaceae) and Galium (Rubiaceae). Comparative phylogenetic analysis was performed using partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha (EF-1α) sequences. Partial COI data indicate the possibility of the early divergence in the D. pyri–D. reaumuri stem, which might have occurred even before the splitting of the common ancestral species of the D. reaumuri–D. plantaginea complex. Such a conclusion seems to be compatible with the available data on host specificity, life cycles and distribution of both species. This introductory phylogenetic analysis based on partial COI and EF-1α sequences indicates the need for reconsideration of the subgeneric structure in the genus Dysaphis.