Species Relationships in the Genus Bryodaemon (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Establishing reliable taxonomy and phylogeny of similar, evolutionarily young species is among the greatest challenges in biology. Clearly the best approach is to use a combination of informative traits, including molecular markers and morphometric measurements. The objective of this study was to verify the taxonomy and phylogeny of four morphologically similar Carpathian species of Bryodaemon Podlussany, 1998 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae). Species relationships were studied using three molecular markers: two nuclear (ITS-2 and EF1-α) and one mitochondrial (COI, barcoding marker). We also took morphometric measurements of 35 taxonomically derived characteristics of body parts and genital apparatus. The potential presence of apomorphic features also was determined. We then compared our results with data concerning the ecology and geography of previously studied species. Our analyses confirmed the monophyly ofthis group and established a phylogeny for the genus. We propose that B. hanakii is the earliest derived species, based on morphometric measurements, apomorphies and the EF-lα phylogeny. The pattern ofnucleotide variation in this marker also indicates that B. rozneri and B. boroveci are the youngest species. This hypothesis is consistent with geographical ranges and ecological preferences of Carpathian Bryodaemon species. We also considered an alternative hypothesis based on the COI gene tree which indicated that B. rozneri was the oldest species. However, this arrangement is inconsistent with our morphological data.