Cladistic analysis of the alderflies of America north of Mexico (Megaloptera: Sialidae) |
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| Authors: | MICHAEL F WHITING |
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| Institution: | Department of Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History, New York, and Department of Entomology, Comstock Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Abstract. A cladistic analysis of thirty-five morphological characters is used to produce a cladogram for the twenty-four American species of Sialis found north of Mexico, two European species, and three species of Protosialis . Three species groups ( americana, califomica and infumata ) proposed by Ross 1937 are shown to be monophyletic. Sialis, Protosialis , and the aequalis species group as currently constituted, are paraphyletic; S.nevadensis is nested within Protosialis and Protosialis is nested within Sialis . Character evolution is evaluated in the light of a phylogenetic hypothesis, and structural modifications are found to correlate with presumed functional constraints. |
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