TY - JOUR
T1 - Molecular phylogeny of Crematogaster subgenus Decacrema ants (Hymenoptera
T2 - Formicidae) and the colonization of Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) trees
AU - Feldhaar, Heike
AU - Fiala, Brigitte
AU - Gadau, Jürgen
AU - Mohamed, Maryati
AU - Maschwitz, Ulrich
N1 - Funding Information:
We are thankful to Assoc. Prof. Rosli bin Hashim from University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur for valuable support. We especially acknowledge the help of Sabah Parks, namely Assistant Director Dr. Jamili Nais and the permission to use their facilities. We are grateful to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) at the Prime Minister’s Department for granting a research permit. We thank E. Kaufmann for providing specimens of one outgroup species. For access to type material we are grateful to the Muséum d’ Histoire Naturelle, Geneva, the Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel, both Switzerland as well as the Museum für Naturkunde of the Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany for access to type material. We thank Dr. J. Longino for his help with a first sorting of the Crematogaster mspp. at the beginning of our studies some years ago. This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) projects MA 373/20-1, FI 606/4-1, and GA 661/2-1. We are grateful to one anonymous reviewer and the subject editor for comments that improved the manuscript.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2003/6/1
Y1 - 2003/6/1
N2 - To elucidate the evolution of one of the most species-rich ant-plant symbiotic systems, the association between Crematogaster (Myrmicinae) and Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) in South-East Asia, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the ant partners. For the phylogenetic analysis partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and II were sequenced and Maximum Parsimony analysis was performed. The analyzed Crematogaster of the subgenus Decacrema fell into three distinct clades which are also characterized by specific morphological and ecological traits (queen morphology, host-plants, and colony structure). Our results supported the validity of our currently used morphospecies concept for Peninsula Malaysia. However, on a wider geographic range (including North and North-East Borneo) some morphospecies turned out to be species complexes with genetically quite distinct taxa. Our phylogenetic analysis and host association studies do not indicate strict cocladogenesis between the subgenus Decacrema and their Macaranga host-plants because multiple ant taxa occur on quite distinct host-plants belonging to different clades within in the genus Macaranga. These results support the view that host-shifting or host-expansion is common in the ants colonizing Macaranga. Additionally, the considerable geographic substructuring found in the phylogenetic trees of the ants suggests that allopatric speciation has also played a role in the diversification and the current distribution of the Decacrema ants.
AB - To elucidate the evolution of one of the most species-rich ant-plant symbiotic systems, the association between Crematogaster (Myrmicinae) and Macaranga (Euphorbiaceae) in South-East Asia, we conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the ant partners. For the phylogenetic analysis partial mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and II were sequenced and Maximum Parsimony analysis was performed. The analyzed Crematogaster of the subgenus Decacrema fell into three distinct clades which are also characterized by specific morphological and ecological traits (queen morphology, host-plants, and colony structure). Our results supported the validity of our currently used morphospecies concept for Peninsula Malaysia. However, on a wider geographic range (including North and North-East Borneo) some morphospecies turned out to be species complexes with genetically quite distinct taxa. Our phylogenetic analysis and host association studies do not indicate strict cocladogenesis between the subgenus Decacrema and their Macaranga host-plants because multiple ant taxa occur on quite distinct host-plants belonging to different clades within in the genus Macaranga. These results support the view that host-shifting or host-expansion is common in the ants colonizing Macaranga. Additionally, the considerable geographic substructuring found in the phylogenetic trees of the ants suggests that allopatric speciation has also played a role in the diversification and the current distribution of the Decacrema ants.
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U2 - 10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00449-9
DO - 10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00449-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 12742749
AN - SCOPUS:0038104884
SN - 1055-7903
VL - 27
SP - 441
EP - 452
JO - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
JF - Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
IS - 3
ER -