Identification of Two Cryptic Species within the Praon abjectum Group (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae) using Molecular Markers and Geometric Morphometrics

Abstract

The genus Praon represents a large group of aphid endoparasitoids and is exemplary for the problems encountered in their taxonomy because of a great variability of morphological characters. To investigate the intraspecific variability and to ascertain cryptic speciation within the Praon abjectum Haliday group, biotypes in association with the aphid hosts Aphis sambuci L., Longicaudus trirhodus Walker, and Rhopabsiphum spp. were examined. We combined molecular and geometric morphometric analyses, that is, partial sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I and nuclear 28SD2 genes and the shape of the forewing. Low variation of 28SD2 sequences confirmed the close relatedness of species from the genus Praon. Analysis of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I sequences however identified three separate taxa within the P. abjectum group with substantial genetic divergence. The biotype of P. abjectum associated with L. trirhodus differed from those associated with Rhopabsiphum sp. and A. sambuci by 5.4–6.5% and 7.7% sequence divergence, respectively, while the genetic distance between the latter two biotypes ranged from 9.5 to 10%. The main changes in the forewing shape that discriminate these three biotypes as revealed by geometric morphometrics are related to the stigma shape and the position of the radial nerve. Based on the differences determined in mitochondrial sequences and in the shape of the wing, we describe two new cryptic species within the P. abjectum group as follows: P. sambuci sp. n. in association with A. sambuci/S. nigra and P. longicaudus sp. n. in association with L. trirhodus/T. aquilegifolium.

Molecular and morphological variability within theAphidius colemanigroup with redescription ofAphidius platensisBrethes (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae)

“…Aphid parasitoids are characterized by a high level of host specialization, but a low level of morphological diversification, which results in the existence of many cryptic species within Aphidiinae (Starý, 1988; Mitrovski-Bogdanović et al ., 2013). However, an integrative approach will substantially contribute to applied biological research.…”

Phylogeny of the Subtribe Monoctonina (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae)

“…In this study, we used sequences of the barcode region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I, a gene commonly employed in phylogenetic and taxonomic studies of the Aphidiinae wasps [9][10][11][24][25][26][27]. The second marker used in this study, the nuclear large subunit 28S rDNA, has been used in studies examining phylogenetic relationships within the Braconidae [4,26,[28][29][30][31]. This gene is useful for inferring phylogenies above the species level, since it has a lower rate of evolution than the mitochondrial genes used for species delimitation.…”

Identification of cryptic species and morphotypes in male Euglossa: morphometric analysis of forewings (Hymenoptera: Euglossini)

“…Importantly, such identification seems to conform to those based on molecular markers (Francoy et al 2012;Oleksa and Tofilski 2015). However, in bees, the use of geometric morphometrics for the discrimination of cryptic species has remained uninvestigated, in spite of its promising use in other insect taxa Pizzo et al 2006;GurgelGoncalves et al 2011;Muñoz-Muñoz et al 2011;Mitrovski-Bogdanović et al 2013). Overall, the application of geometric morphometrics to assess intraspecific morphological differentiation and intra-sexual plasticity is still a largely unexplored field in bees (Danforth and Desjardins 1999).…”