Abstract
The use of DNA sequence data often leads to the recognition of cryptic species within putatively well-known taxa. The opposite case, detecting less diversity than originally described, has, however, far more rarely been documented. Maniola jurtina, the Meadow Brown butterfly, occurs all over Europe, whereas all other six species in the genus Maniola are restricted to the Mediterranean area. Among them, three are island endemics on Sardinia, Cyprus, and Chios, respectively. Maniola species are almost indistinguishable morphologically, and hybridization seems to occur occasionally. To clarify species boundaries and diversification history of the genus, we reconstructed the phylogeography and phylogeny of all seven species within Maniola analyzing 138 individuals from across its range using mitochondrial and nuclear genetic markers. Examination of variation in mitochondrial and nuclear DNA surprisingly revealed a case of taxonomic “oversplitting”. The topology of the recovered phylogenetic tree is not consistent with accepted taxonomy, but rather reveals haplotype clades that are incongruent with nominal species boundaries: instead of seven species, we recognized only two major, yet incompletely segregated, lineages. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that Maniola originated in Africa. We suggest that one lineage dispersed over the Strait of Gibraltar and the Iberian Peninsula to the west of Europe, while the other lineage spreads eastward through Asia Minor and over the Bosporus to Eastern Europe.
Highlights
Taxonomic mishaps such as “oversplitting” and “lumping” continue to pose problems in modern taxonomy and systematics (Dayrat 2005)
Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
This study aims at (1) reconstructing the phylogeny of the genus Maniola, (2) comparing it with the currently accepted taxonomy, (3) testing the usability of DNA barcoding for species identifications in Maniola, and (4) investigating whether molecular data reveal information about the existence of refugia in the Mediterranean region and possible expansion routes that have led to the current distribution of the species
Summary
Taxonomic mishaps such as “oversplitting” (the misinterpretation of individual variants as distinct specific entities) and “lumping” (erroneously grouping several species into a single one) continue to pose problems in modern taxonomy and systematics (Dayrat 2005). Described cryptic species and novel insights into relationships between taxa frequently overturn traditional systematics, even in comparatively well-known groups such as butterflies (e.g., Dinca et al 2011; Talavera et al 2013). Meadow Brown butterflies have been in the focus of studies in evolutionary genetics and ecology since decades (Scali 1971; Brakefield 1982a,b; Goulson 1993). The center of these studies has been the widespread M. jurtina.
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