Integrative species delimitation reveals fine-scale allopatric speciation in a good-flying insect: a case study on

Abstract

Alpha taxonomy is fundamental for many biological fields. Delineation of the species boundary, however, can be challenging in a species complex, where different species share a similar morphology and diagnostic characters may not be available. In this context, integrative approaches that incorporate molecular and morphological data sets, and account for speciation history can be helpful to alpha taxonomy. Different approaches to species delimitation based on different assumptions are complementary and by integrating the results from multiple approaches we can generate a more reliable and objective taxonomic decision. In this study, we applied three molecular approaches to species delimitation and inferred the demographic history based on an isolation with migration model to test a morphologically based taxonomic hypothesis for the Cylindera pseudocylindriformis complex. We discuss the association between genetic divergence and microhabitat specialisation, and further corroborate that C. subtilis sp. nov. is a valid new species by integrating the results from model-based species delimitation and the genealogical divergence index. We argue that genetic endemism can occur at a small geographic scale, even in a winged insect like tiger beetles. Our results also indicated that there may still be undocumented species diversity of Taiwanese Cylindera remaining to be discovered. ZooBank LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:9DEC1432-365C-4872-8D06-73B95F30624F

Similar Ones Are Not Related and Vice Versa—New Dendronotus Taxa (Nudibranchia: Dendronotidae) from the North Atlantic Ocean Provide a Platform for Discussion of Global Marine Biodiversity Patterns

“…However, an immense amount of recent data clearly highlights that both genetic and epigenetic processes influence the formation of any organism [55][56][57], and therefore genetic data cannot be used as the sole basis of modern taxonomy to "delimit units of life's diversity". Thus, any proposals for putative absence of "morphological differences" [58][59][60] in reality implies insufficient fine-scale comparison [16,[61][62][63][64][65][66]. Therefore, the naming of 'morphodiversity', contrary to the guidelines of the "integrative taxonomy" [50], is among the most crucial of aims of taxonomy, from which we will approach a true understanding of "units of life's diversity".…”

Genomic tools for comparative conservation genetics among three recently diverged stag beetles (Lucanus, Lucanidae)

“…Specifically, the numbers of alleles shared between individuals from ML and HC and between ML and NT are higher than those between HC and NT. As a result, isolation by distance (IBD) may also explain the current genetic divergence among the three taxa (Mason et al, 2020), where the taxonomic status among the taxa might better be treated as intraspecific (Chou et al, 2022; Poelstra et al, 2021). Without additional geographic samples, however, it is beyond our grasp to statistically test whether IBD is the best model for the genetic divergence in our system.…”

“…Note that it is not unprecedented in insects that speciation initiated by an allopatric process could have been completed in fewer than 200 kya (Huang et al, 2020). In Asia, geographical taxa have frequently been reported to have originated around 100-600 kya (Chou et al, 2021;Dong et al, 2017;Morgan & Huang, 2021), where the geographic taxa may or may not be treated as different species (Chou et al, 2022;Dong et al, 2020).…”