Arthropod Systematics & Phylogeny 71(1): 43-68, doi: 10.3897/asp.71.e31765

Phylogeny of the Saxifraga-associated species of Dichotrachelus (Insecta: Coleoptera: Curculionidae), with remarks on their radiation in the Alps

Massimo Meregalli^‡, Fabrizio Menardo, Klaus Klass^§, Piero Cervalla

‡ Università di Torino, Italy§ Museum für Tierkunde Dresden, Dresden, Germany

Corresponding author: Massimo Meregalli ( massimo.meregalli@unito.it )

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Citation:

Abstract

A phylogenetic analysis of the Saxifraga-associated species of Dichotrachelus was carried out based on morphological and, for some species, molecular data. The various methods implemented gave congruent results and yielded a significantly supported phylogenetic inference of the relationships among the species. Saxifraga-associated species form a monophyletic unit, and some species-groups were evidenced, distributed in the eastern, central and western Alps, respectively. Based on the phylogenetic inference, and taking into account palaeogeological and palaeogeographical information, a biogeographic scenario of the events that may have led to the present-day distribution is proposed.

Keywords

Alpine speciation, ecological niche-shift, Cyclominae, Dichotrachelus, glacial refugia, COI sequences, phylogeography, taxonomy