Mazo-Vargas, Anyimilehidi

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Untangling the effects of biogeography and host plant associations: phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies in the Exophthalmus genus complex
(2011) Mazo-Vargas, Anyimilehidi; Franz, Nico M.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Martínez-Cruzado, Juan Carlos; Cafaro, Matias J.; Department of Biology; Nieto, Miriam
Phylogenetic as well as phylogeographic methods were implemented to assess the diversification of Caribbean entimine weevils. (1) A phylogeny of 62 species of entimine weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) in the tribes Eustylini Lacordaire and Geonemini Gistel was inferred based on a combined analysis of mitochondrial COI and nuclear EF-1α markers. The analysis recovered a monophyletic ingroup with four major lineages. A TreeMap analysis yielded zero cospeciation events, due to an apparent lack of sufficiently narrow and stable host associations. In contrast, a DIVA optimization of ancestral areas revealed 15 inter-island and two intra-island splits along the internal nodes of the phylogeny. (2) A phylogeographic analysis was performed to assess the historical relationships of Diaprepes abbreviatus of the islands Dominica, Hispanola (Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, and Mona. Also the patterns of genetic variation and diversity were examine within islands and between the main phylogenetic clades observed.