MORPHOLOGICAL AND MOLECULAR EVIDENCE SUGGESTS A SPECIES COMPLEX WITHIN LUTZIA BIGOTI IN THE AMERICAS

Larvae of Lutzia Theobald were collected from two mountain populations in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, from November 2021 to February 2022. The larvae were placed in flight cages to obtain pupae and adults. Through the morphology of larvae, pupae, and adults, it was determined that the species collected corresponded to Lt. bigoti previously reported in other regions of Mexico, representing the first report of this species in Sinaloa, Mexico. In contrast, when larvae were compared with dichotomous keys of specimens collected in Venezuela, differences were observed in the configuration of the ventral teeth of the mandibles, and the trumpets of the pupae varied with respect to specimens from Guatemala. It was not possible to make comparisons between specimens from Guatemala and Venezuela due to the lack of morphological descriptions. Molecular analyses based on partial mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and ITS2 sequences showed that the Mexican specimens clustered with other Mexican populations of Lt. bigoti and differed from South American populations currently identified as Lt. bigoti (from Brazil). The combined morphological and molecular evidence suggests that Lt. bigoti may represent a species complex in the Americas and highlights the need for a broader taxonomic reassessment of geographically separated populations.