Uncovering tropical diversity: six sympatric cryptic species of Blepharoneura (Diptera: Tephritidae) in flowers of Gurania spinulosa (Cucurbitaceae) in eastern Ecuador |
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Authors: | MARTY CONDON DEAN C. ADAMS DARRIN BANN KACIE FLAHERTY JOHN GAMMONS JESSICA JOHNSON MATTHEW L. LEWIS SARA MARSTELLER SONJA J. SCHEFFER FRANCISCO SERNA SUSAN SWENSEN |
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Affiliation: | Department of Biology, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA 52314, USA; Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA; Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA; Systematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA |
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Abstract: | Diversification of phytophagous insects is often associated with changes in the use of host taxa and host parts. We focus on a group of newly discovered Neotropical tephritids in the genus Blepharoneura , and report the discovery of an extraordinary number of sympatric, morphologically cryptic species, all feeding as larvae on calyces of flowers of a single functionally dioecious and highly sexually dimorphic host species ( Gurania spinulosa ) in eastern Ecuador. Molecular analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase-I gene from flies reared from flowers of G. spinulosa reveal six distinct haplotype groups that differ by 7.2–10.1% bp (uncorrected pairwise distances; N = 624 bp). Haplotype groups correspond to six distinct and well-supported clades. Members of five clades specialize on the calyces of flowers of a particular sex: three clades comprise male flower specialists; two clades comprise female flower specialists; the sixth clade comprises generalists reared from male and female flowers. The six clades occupy significantly different morphological spaces defined by wing pigmentation patterns; however, diagnostic morphological characters were not discovered. Behavioural observations suggest specific courtship behaviours may play a role in maintaining reproductive isolation among sympatric species. Journal compilation © 2008 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2008, 93 , 779–797. No claim to original US government works. |
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Keywords: | courtship dioecy host specificity host use mtDNA Neotropics phytophagous insects reproductive isolation speciation wing pattern |
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