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Systematics, phylogeny and biogeography
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Molecular systematics of Dolichopodidae (Diptera) inferred from COI and 12S rDNA gene sequences based on European exemplars*

Marco Valerio Bernasconi A D , Marc Pollet B C and Paul Irvine Ward A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Zoologisches Museum, Universität Zürich-Irchel, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.

B Research Group Terrestrial Ecology, Department of Biology, Ghent University (UGent), K.L.Ledeganckstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.

C Department of Entomology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (KBIN), Vautierstraat 29, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.

D Corresponding author. Email: marco.bernasconi@access.uzh.ch

Invertebrate Systematics 21(5) 453-470 https://doi.org/10.1071/IS06043
Submitted: 10 October 2006  Accepted: 31 August 2007   Published: 7 November 2007

Abstract

With ~7000 species in ~220 genera, the Dolichopodidae is one of the most speciose families of Diptera. Though the family as such is well defined, knowledge on the internal phylogenetic relationships is generally poor and although authors of successive monographs and catalogues indifferently listed most genera in specific subfamilies, their decisions were rarely based on sound phylogenetic analyses and never on molecular data. In a first attempt to unravel the phylogeny of Dolichopodidae, a combined COI + 12S rDNA dataset (1199 characters) of 119 samples of 101 European species was used in Bayesian (BAY), neighbour joining (NJ) and weighted/unweighted maximum parsimony analyses (MP). At the subfamily level, our study supports the monophyly of Dolichopodinae, Sympycninae, and Hydrophorinae (including Machaerium Haliday, 1832). Ten (Campsicnemus Haliday, 1851, Chrysotus Meigen, 1824, Dolichopus Latreille, 1796, Gymnopternus Loew, 1857, Medetera Fischer von Waldheim, 1819, Poecilobothrus Mik, 1878, Rhaphium Meigen, 1803, Teuchophorus Loew, 1857, Sciapus Zeller, 1842, Syntormon Loew, 1857) of the 14 multispecies genera formed monophyletic assemblages in all analyses and relationships among Argyra Macquart, 1834 species were supported in most analyses. At the subgeneric level, seven of the nine stable species-groups in Dolichopus as established during previous research were supported in most analyses. The validity of the recent transfer of Hercostomus chrysozygos Wiedemann, 1817 to Poecilobothrus was clearly supported in all analyses. Within Argyra and Rhaphium, interspecific relationships reflected previously used subgeneric classifications (Lasiargyra Mik, 1878, Leucostola Loew, 1857 and Argyra s.s. in Argyra; Porphyrops Meigen, 1824, Rhaphium s.s. and Xiphandrium Loew, 1857 in Rhaphium). Further, subclades within Medetera corresponded to species-groups defined by other authors featuring a different morphology and ecology. Anepsiomyia flaviventris (Meigen, 1824) most probably does not belong to Sympycninae but its current position within Peloropeodinae could not be confirmed.


Acknowledgements

Thanks are owed to Manuela Varini-Ooijen for her assistance with laboratory work in the frame of her diploma thesis. We are also much indebted to our Belgian colleagues, Mark Alderweireldt, Eric De Tré and Rudi Goossens, who kindly assisted MP with collecting particular species in De Kaaimeersen, De Vlassenbroekse Meersen, and De Wellemeersen nature reserves (all Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium). We are also grateful to the members of the ‘Phylogeny discussion group’ at the Zoological Museum (Zurich, Switzerland) for commenting on a previous version of the manuscript. An anonymous referee as well as Scott Brooks (Agriculture and Agri-Food, Ottawa, Canada) and Christine Lambkin (Queensland Museum, South Brisbane, Australia) kindly provided us with interesting and relevant comments that contributed substantially to the improvement of the first versions of our manuscript.


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* MVB and MP contributed equally to this paper. MVB carried out or supervised the molecular laboratory work and was responsible for the phylogenetic analysis. MP interpreted the results in the light of traditional insights in dolichopodid systematics and phylogeny. PIW supervises the whole Dolichopodidae Program at the Zoological Museum.




Appendix 1.  Overview of samples and species of Dolichopodidae and outgroup used in this study
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Appendix 1a. (continued)
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