Publication Date:
2024-04-18
Description:
Using CO1 sequence analysis, we investigated the relationships of Western Palearctic and Nearctic Cotesia
that spin aggregated cocoons in the shape of a ball, and as adults are morphologically very similar. The
analysis included the conceptual taxa C. tibialis, C. ofella, C. vanessae, C. ruficrus, C. xylina and C. yakutatensis, as well as the newly described species C. trivaliae sp. nov. The examined specimens of C. tibialis,
C. ofella, C. vanessae, C. ruficrus and C. trivaliae sp. nov. were collected in several European countries,
and C. xylina and C. yakutatensis in Canada and the USA. Molecular analyses showed that C. ruficrus is
not closely related to the other studied taxa. Based on the genetic distances as well as biology and morphology, C. vanessae and C. ofella are confirmed as solid taxa. The species C. yakutatensis comprises two
entities. Having 8 haplotypes, C. tibialis also emerges as a species complex, divided into two clusters. With
26 detected haplotypes, C. xylina shows the highest diversity, being composed of three segregates. The conceptual species C. tibialis, C. xylina and C. yakutatensis seem to be species complexes containing several
candidates for recognition as distinct species. One from the European C. tibialis complex is here described
as new, and the impediments to be overcome before the description of further species are outlined
Keywords:
DNA barcoding
;
genetic distance
;
hosts
;
species aggregates
Repository Name:
National Museum of Natural History, Netherlands
Type:
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Format:
application/pdf
