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Do morphologically defined groups correspond to reproductively isolated species? A case study in Myrmica ants from Switzerland

Lavanchy, Guillaume LU orcid ; Galkowski, Christophe ; Jecha, Kristine ; Freitag, Anne ; Avril, Amaury ; Dépraz, Aline and Schwander, Tanja (2025) In Insect Systematics and Diversity 9(3).
Abstract

The most widely used definition of a species is that it is reproductively isolated from other populations. Yet, most species are described on the basis of morphological criteria, and reproductive isolation is seldom tested. Using the ant genus Myrmica Latreille (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) as a model, we ask whether species described as distinct based on (often subtle) morphological differences indeed form reproductively isolated lineages. We collected and morphologically identified 918 Myrmica ants from a 3212 km2 area in Switzerland. We then combined DNA barcoding (based on COI) and RAD sequencing to identify genetically isolated lineages. Out of the 14 morphological species identified, 13 formed genetically differentiated lineages,... (More)

The most widely used definition of a species is that it is reproductively isolated from other populations. Yet, most species are described on the basis of morphological criteria, and reproductive isolation is seldom tested. Using the ant genus Myrmica Latreille (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) as a model, we ask whether species described as distinct based on (often subtle) morphological differences indeed form reproductively isolated lineages. We collected and morphologically identified 918 Myrmica ants from a 3212 km2 area in Switzerland. We then combined DNA barcoding (based on COI) and RAD sequencing to identify genetically isolated lineages. Out of the 14 morphological species identified, 13 formed genetically differentiated lineages, while the last one, M. lonae, was not supported by our genetic data. Overall, the morphological identification was congruent with genetic lineage delineation for 94.9% of individuals. Our dataset also allowed us to screen for cryptic lineages in the 5 most frequent species, including in M. scabrinodis where cryptic lineages were previously suggested, but we found no evidence for cryptic species. Overall, our results indicate that morphology parallels genetic isolation in the studied species. However, an integrative approach combining morphological identification with nuclear marker genotyping is necessary for confident species identification of all individuals. Finally, our results provide a library of validated COI barcodes for future Myrmica specimen identification.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cryptic species, Formicidae, hybridization, integrative taxonomy, Myrmicinae
in
Insect Systematics and Diversity
volume
9
issue
3
article number
3
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:105005741206
ISSN
2399-3421
DOI
10.1093/isd/ixaf021
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s).
id
7094dd3d-f572-4051-a455-35c1682f2aa8
date added to LUP
2025-08-06 15:34:41
date last changed
2025-08-06 19:46:15
@article{7094dd3d-f572-4051-a455-35c1682f2aa8,
  abstract     = {{<p>The most widely used definition of a species is that it is reproductively isolated from other populations. Yet, most species are described on the basis of morphological criteria, and reproductive isolation is seldom tested. Using the ant genus Myrmica Latreille (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) as a model, we ask whether species described as distinct based on (often subtle) morphological differences indeed form reproductively isolated lineages. We collected and morphologically identified 918 Myrmica ants from a 3212 km2 area in Switzerland. We then combined DNA barcoding (based on COI) and RAD sequencing to identify genetically isolated lineages. Out of the 14 morphological species identified, 13 formed genetically differentiated lineages, while the last one, M. lonae, was not supported by our genetic data. Overall, the morphological identification was congruent with genetic lineage delineation for 94.9% of individuals. Our dataset also allowed us to screen for cryptic lineages in the 5 most frequent species, including in M. scabrinodis where cryptic lineages were previously suggested, but we found no evidence for cryptic species. Overall, our results indicate that morphology parallels genetic isolation in the studied species. However, an integrative approach combining morphological identification with nuclear marker genotyping is necessary for confident species identification of all individuals. Finally, our results provide a library of validated COI barcodes for future Myrmica specimen identification.</p>}},
  author       = {{Lavanchy, Guillaume and Galkowski, Christophe and Jecha, Kristine and Freitag, Anne and Avril, Amaury and Dépraz, Aline and Schwander, Tanja}},
  issn         = {{2399-3421}},
  keywords     = {{Cryptic species; Formicidae; hybridization; integrative taxonomy; Myrmicinae}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{05}},
  number       = {{3}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Insect Systematics and Diversity}},
  title        = {{Do morphologically defined groups correspond to reproductively isolated species? A case study in Myrmica ants from Switzerland}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf021}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/isd/ixaf021}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}