Abstract
The development of modern methods of species delimitation, unified under the “integrated taxonomy” approach, allows a critical examination and re-evaluation of complex taxonomic groups. The rose chafer Protaetia (Potosia) cuprea is a highly polymorphic species group with a large distribution range. Despite its overall commonness, its taxonomy is unclear and subject to conflicting hypotheses, most of which largely fail to account for its evolutionary history. Based on the sequences of two mitochondrial markers from 65 individuals collected across the species range, and a detailed analysis of morphological characters including a geometric morphometry approach, we infer the evolutionary history and phylogeography of the P. cuprea species complex. Our results demonstrate the existence of three separate lineages in the Western Palearctic region, presumably with a species status. However, these lineages are in conflict with current taxonomic concepts. None of the 29 analyzed morphological characters commonly used in the taxonomy of this group proved to be unambiguously species- or subspecies- specific. The geometric morphometry analysis reveals a large overlap in the shape of the analyzed structures (pronotum, meso-metaventral projection, elytra and aedeagus), failing to identify either the genetically detected clades or the classical species entities. Our results question the monophyly of P. cuprea in regard to P. cuprina, as well as the species status of P. metallica. On the other hand, we found support for the species status of the Sicilian P. hypocrita. Collectively, our findings provide a new and original insight into the taxonomy and phylogeny of the P. cuprea species complex. At the same time, the results represent the first attempt to elucidate the phylogeography of these polymorphic beetles.
Highlights
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that DNA sequences provide a powerful tool for the recognition of phylogenetic patterns within a species complex (e.g. [1,2,3,4]) which is essential for the reconstruction of their range evolution and for defining potential conservation units [5]
For individual gene analyses, we detected tree samples of two different subspecies co-occurring in Central Europe, i.e. two samples of P. cuprea obscura from the Czech Republic and a single Slovakian P. cuprea metallica sharing the same haplotype in cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (Cox1)
The overall topology was identical and well supported for all the trees obtained by both Bayesian inference (BI) and maximum likelihood (ML)
Summary
It has been repeatedly demonstrated that DNA sequences provide a powerful tool for the recognition of phylogenetic patterns within a species complex (e.g. [1,2,3,4]) which is essential for the reconstruction of their range evolution (phylogeography) and for defining potential conservation units [5]. The barcode is increasingly regarded only as a partial data source and a more complex approach combining various molecular results with classical taxonomical tools (i.e. morphological analyses), geometric morphometry, phylogeographic data, as well as information on ecology and biology united under the “integrated taxonomy” approach [16] has proven to better address critical taxonomic groups. Such a combined approach provided novel insight even in such notoriously known taxa as the Hercules beetle Dynastes hercules (Linnaeus, 1758) species complex [17]
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