An integrative approach in the assessment of species delimitation and structure of the Merodon nanus species group (Diptera: Syrphidae)

Abstract

The Merodon nanus group (Diptera, Syrphidae) is a small group of closely related species with high morphological similarity. Until now, based on morphological characters, this group consisted of five species: M.

Taxonomic assessment and distribution of common toads (Bufo bufo and B. verrucosissimus) in Turkey based on morphological and molecular data

“…The disjunct distribution of B. verrucosissimus in Turkey, with populations in the Mediterranean and in the Caucasus parallels observations in other taxa, notably reptiles (Fritz et al, 2009;Jandzik et al, 2013;Milucek et al, 2013;Tamar et al, 2016), but also amphibians (van Riemsdijk et al, 2017;Dufresnes et al, 2019). A major biogeographic event potentially related with this peculiar pattern is the emergence of the Anatolian Diagonal, an important geographic barrier associated with changes in species diversity and composition (Davis, 1971;Nilson et al, 1990;Yigit et al, 2012;Gül, 2013;Mohammadin et al, 2017;Şeker et al, 2018;Kočiš et al, 2018). The combination of mountain orogenesis and climatic changes during the Pleistocene may have driven the disjunct evolution of the two lineages of B. verrucosissimus, a divergence which seems recent, in view of the incomplete sorting of some nuclear alleles that are shared between the two populations as well as with some specimen of its sister taxon B. bufo.…”

Resolving the taxonomy of the Merodon dobrogensis species subgroup (Diptera: Syrphidae), with the description of a new species

“…In general, molecular findings support wing and surstylus shape differentiation among species from the Merodon dobrogensis species subgroup. These results are not surprising, given that congruence between molecular and geometric morphometrics results in the recent taxonomic studies of syrphid species becomes standard (Nedeljković et al 2013(Nedeljković et al , 2015Vujić et al 2013;Ačanski et al 2016;Šašić et al 2016Chroni et al 2018;Kočiš Tubić et al 2018;Radenković et al 2018). Moreover, based on both simple and partial Mantel tests, there is no significant correlation of wing and surstylus shape and genetic differentiation with climate and geographic proximity among the investigated species.…”

Taxonomic complexity in the genus Merodon Meigen, 1803 (Diptera, Syrphidae)

“…The studied morphological characters show high morphological similarity in all taxa, with the exception of M. telmateia Hurkmans, 1987, which has completely pale and unicoloured tarsi (this character clearly separates this taxon from all other members of the nanus species group). The five other species can be distinguished by differences in the partly black to brown tarsi and structure of male genitalia (see Vujić et al 2015;Kočiš Tubić et al 2018). Diversity and distribution.…”

“…Combining molecular characters (mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) and the nuclear 28S rRNA genes) with morphological traits (geometric wing morphometry, surstylus shape and size, and other morphological characters), a number of cryptic and sibling species have been delineated within different species groups. Notable examples are the ruficornis species group (Radenković et al 2002;Milankov et al 2008c;Francuski et al 2009;Vujić et al 2012), desuturinus species group (Milankov et al 2008b;, aureus and cinereus species subgroups (Milankov et al 2008a;Francuski et al 2011;Šašić et al 2016;Veselić et al 2017;Radenković et al 2018b), avidus species complex (Milankov et al 2009;Popović et al 2015;Ačanski et al 2016b), albifrons species group (Milankov et al 2013), nigritarsis species group (Vujić et al 2013;Likov et al 2020), nanus species group (Vujić et al 2015;Kočiš Tubić et al 2018), serrulatus species group (Vujić et al 2020b), constans species group (Vujić et al 2020a), rufus species group (Radenković et al 2020), and all Merodon species of Lesvos Island (Ståhls et al 2009). The aim of this work is to summarize the knowledge from recent taxonomic and systematic revisions, to help taxonomists to have a central reference for the recent published literature, and to present an identification key for the identification of lineages, species groups, species subgroups and unplaced species of Merodon.…”