Analysis of the differences between Syntormon pallipes and S. pseudospicatus (Diptera: Dolichopodidae): morphological and molecular data

Abstract

The recent catalogues of the family Dolichopodidae considered Syntormon pallipes (Fabricius, 1794) and S. pseudospicatus Strobl, 1899 as separate species. In this study, we used three approaches to estimate the significance of differences between the two species: molecular analysis (COI and 12S rRNA sequences), analysis of leg colour characters and geometric morphometric analysis of wing shape. The morphological data confirmed the absence of significant differences between S. pallipes and S. pseudospicatus found in the DNA analysis. Significant differences in the wing shape of two species have not been revealed. Hence, according to our data, there is no reason to consider S. pseudospicatus as a distinct species.

Morphometric characters in the taxonomic recognition of the species of Dolichopus pennatus group (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

“…However, at the same time, females of the genus Dolichopus are difficult to diagnose using traditional taxonomic techniques and can often be discriminated only by legs color. However, as frequently noted, such characters are comparative, have low phylogenetic significance [Bernasconi et al, 2007b;Chursina, Grichanov, 2019], and their variation has never been examination in detail as a separate subject-matter in Dolichopus species.…”

Morphometric characters in a taxonomic diagnosis of Dolichopus pennatus species group (Diptera: Dolichopodidae)

“…However, at the same time, females of the genus Dolichopus are difficult to diagnose using traditional taxonomic techniques and can often be discriminated only by leg color. However, as frequently noted, such characters are comparative, have low phylogenetic significance [Bernasconi et al, 2007b;Chursina, Grichanov, 2019], and their variation has never been examined in detail as a separate subject-matter in Dolichopus species.…”

Phylogeny of the genus Dolichopus Latreille, 1796 and testing for phylogenetic signal in morphological characters and morphometric data

“…The resulting wing shape variations can potentially contribute to a general phylogenetic hypothesis based on molecular data and traditional morphological characters. The presence of a phylogenetic signal in characters of a particular category is still under discussion (Bernasconi et al, 2007b; Chursina & Grichanov, 2019), since the emergence of similar structures can be explained not only by the evolutionary proximity of species, but also by convergent evolution, as described, for example, for characters of sexual dimorphism (Bonduriansky, 2006; Chursina, 2019).…”