A new butterfly species from south Russia revealed through chromosomal and molecular analysis of the Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damonides complex (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

Abstract

Finding a new species is a rare event in easy-to-see and well-studied organisms like butterflies, especially if they inhabit well-explored areas such as the Western Palaearctic. However, even in this region, gaps in taxonomic knowledge still exist and here we report such a discovery. Using a combined analysis of chromosomal and molecular markers we demonstrate that Polyommatus blue populations from Daghestan (South Russia), previously identified as P. aserbeidschanus, represent in fact a new species which is described here as P. australorossicus sp. n. We also show that the enigmatic Polyommatus damonides described as a form of Polyommatus damone and later considered as an entity similar to P. poseidon or P. ninae is conspecific with a taxon previously known as P. elbursicus. As a result of our study, we propose several taxonomic changes within the P. damonides species complex and suggest the following new combinations: P. damonides elbursicus Forster, 1956, comb. n. and P. damonides gilanensis Eckweiler, 2002, comb. n.

Karyotype reinvestigation does not confirm the presence of two cryptic species and interspecific hybridization in the Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) damocles complex in the Crimea (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

“…Haploid chromosome number (n) was counted at metaphase I (MI), metaphase II (MII) and diakinetic cells. In some cases, diploid chromosome number (2n) was counted in spermatogonial mitotic metaphase plates and atypical meioses (see: Lorković 1990, Lukhtanov and Dantchenko 2017 for an explanation and illustration of atypical meiosis in Lepidoptera).…”

“…At the same time, the subgenus demonstrates a high level of karyotypic differentiation with respect to the chromosome number (Przybyłowicz et al 2014, Lukhtanov 2015, Vershinina and Lukhtanov 2017), chromosome size (Lukhtanov and Dantchenko 2002) and number of chromosomes bearing ribosomal DNA clusters (Vershinina et al 2015). Therefore, cytogenetic studies are an absolutely necessary (although not always sufficient) approach for solving many problems of the taxonomy in the subgenus Agrodiaetus (de Lesse 1960, Lukhtanov and Dantchenko 2017, Lukhtanov and Shapoval 2017, Vishnevskaya et al 2018).…”

Linking karyotypes with DNA barcodes: proposal for a new standard in chromosomal analysis with an example based on the study of Neotropical Nymphalidae (Lepidoptera)

“…The approach based on combination of chromosomal and DNA barcode data has been already used in different studies on butterflies (Lukhtanov et al 2014, 2015; Lukhtanov and Dantchenko 2017), fish (Marques et al 2013), lizards (de Matos et al 2016), mammals (Tavares et al 2015) and mussels (Garcia-Souto et al 2017). However, its principles have not been explicitly formulated.…”

Karyotype of Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) eriwanensis Forster, 1960 and taxonomic position of P. (A.) interjectus de Lesse, 1960 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

“…Despite morphological similarity, the species of the ‘brown complex’ demonstrate a high level of differentiation with respect to chromosome number and karyotype structure (de Lesse 1960; Lukhtanov et al 2015; Vershinina and Lukhtanov 2017; Vishnevskaya et al 2018). Therefore, as in other Agrodiaetus clades (Lukhtanov 2015; Vershinina et al 2015; Lukhtanov and Dantchenko 2017; Lukhtanov and Shapoval 2017), cytogenetic characters represent the most important tool for solving taxonomic problems.…”