Comparing morphological diversity with genetic structuring in the case of the Dicranota
(Ludicia) lucidipennis (Edwards, 1921) (Diptera: Pediciidae)
Kolcsár, L.P., Dénes A.L., Török, E., Keresztes, L.
Paradigmatically, the European aquatic insects exhibit highly divergent population
structures in some extra Mediterranean mountainous areas which are likely
identical with some cryptic refugia during the Pleistocene climate change. During
the glacial and inter glacial periods important area dynamics were also detected in
such Central European mountain ranges in a series of arboreal taxa, based on the
emergence of highly divergent morphological and genetic structures of the
populations from this area. The Carpathians are recognized as one of the most
important cryptic refugia of cold tolerant aquatic insects in Europe, but also a
meeting place of some genetic lineages from different extra Carpathian origin. In
the present study we investigate a mountainous aquatic dipteran, Dicranota
(Ludicia) lucidipennis (Diptera, Pediciidae) which is quite abundant in Western and
Central Europe. The chromatic variability of the species in the Balcan Dinarian
populations has already been used in some previous taxonomic revisions. To test
the taxonomic importance of such chromatic divergences we analyzed 216
individuals from the whole range of the species. Important morphological variability
was detected between populations, mostly on the size and colour of the individuals.
Linear and geometric morphometry support some divergent morphological groups
in Europe, mostly on body characters, excluding genital structures. However, our
morphometry analysis confirms the presence of two morphological groups in
Romania, which were not supported, by genetic evidence (based on mtCOI
sequences), but did detect some highly structured genetic lineages from the
Apuseni Mountains, which are different from those collected from the Southern
and Eastern Carpathians and could be related by important range shifts and
isolation of populations during the Pleistocene climate changes.