The identification of the species of the ‘Spilogona contractifrons species-group’ and the ‘Spilogona nitidicauda species-group’ (Diptera, Muscidae) based on morphological and molecular analysis

  • Vera S. Sorokina Siberian Zoological Museum, Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Frunze str. 11, Novosibirsk 630091
  • Elena V. Shaikevich Laboratory of Insect Genetics, N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Gubkin Street 3, Moscow 119991
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.484
Keywords: COI gene, DNA barcoding, flies, identification key, male terminalia

Abstract

Muscid species of the ‘Spilogona contractifrons species-group’ (Spilogona alticola (Malloch, 1920), S. arctica (Zetterstedt, 1838), S. contractifrons (Zetterstedt, 1838), S. orthosurstyla Xue & Tian, 1988) and of the ‘Spilogona nitidicauda species-group’ (S. nitidicauda (Schnabl, 1911), S. hissarensis Hennig, 1959, S. imitatrix (Malloch, 1921), S. platyfrons Sorokina, 2018) are notoriously difficult to distinguish. In this paper, their morphological features are analysed, images of the male head, frons and abdomen of all the species are given, and the male terminalia are figured. The study of extensive material has shown that all the morphologically recognised species in each of these groups are valid species. An identification key is provided for both groups of species. To confirm the morphological differences, genetic differences in the cytochrome oxidase I gene of flies of the ‘Spilogona contractifrons species-group’ and of the ‘Spilogona nitidicauda species-group’ were analysed. It is shown that members of both groups of species have not only distinguishing morphological characters but also fixed substitutions in the DNA sequences. Since a low interspecific polymorphism is known in the Muscidae Latreille, 1802, the revealed genetic distances confirm the existence of separate species or subspecies in each of the groups studied.

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Published
2018-12-11
How to Cite
Sorokina, V. S., & Shaikevich, E. V. (2018). The identification of the species of the ‘Spilogona contractifrons species-group’ and the ‘Spilogona nitidicauda species-group’ (Diptera, Muscidae) based on morphological and molecular analysis. European Journal of Taxonomy, (484). https://doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2018.484
Issue
No. 484 (2018): The identification of the species of the ‘Spilogona contractifrons species-group’ and the ‘Spilogona nitidicauda species-group’ (Diptera, Muscidae) based on morphological and molecular analysis
Section
Entomology
Copyright (c) 2018 Vera S. Sorokina, Elena V. Shaikevich

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