Dimorphic male scutal patterns and upper-eye facets of Simulium mirum n. sp. (Diptera: Simuliidae) from Malaysia

Abstract

BackgroundA species of Simulium in the Simulium melanopus species-group of the subgenus Simulium (formerly misidentified as S. laterale Edwards from Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia) is suspected to have dimorphic male scutal color patterns linked with different numbers of upper-eye facets. This study aimed to confirm whether or not these two forms of adult males represent a single species.MethodsDNA sequences generated from four genetic loci, the mitochondrial-encoded COI, COII, 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes, of both forms of Simulium sp. males were compared with each other and also with those of the females and larvae of the same species. Four other related Simulium spp. were also used for comparison.ResultsBoth the concatenated dataset and single-locus phylogenetic analyses indicate that the two distinct morphological males of Simulium sp. are indeed conspecific, and represent, together with their associated females and larvae, a distinct species.ConclusionsBased on DNA analyses, Simulium sp. is proven to show dimorphism in males and is herein described as a new species, Simulium mirum Takaoka, Sofian-Azirun & Low. This is the first report of such a novel species among the family Simuliidae.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1393-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Does colour matter? Genetic differentiation of colour morphs of the Asian golden web spider Nephila antipodiana (Araneae: Nephilidae)

“…Polymorphism is a widespread phenomenon in the animal kingdom and it has long been a concern among taxonomists and ecologists (Cabaret & Durette-Desset, 1991;Tarjuelo et al, 2004;Takaoka et al, 2016). Identification and classification of polymorphic taxa can sometimes be challenging because some morphs may in fact comprise distinct species that have not been distinguished by traditional morphotaxonomy.…”