Chromosomal identification of cryptic species sharing their DNA barcodes: Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) antidolus and P. (A.) morgani in Iran (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

Vladimir A Lukhtanov; Nazar A Shapoval

doi:10.3897/CompCytogen.v11i4.20876

Chromosomal identification of cryptic species sharing their DNA barcodes: Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) antidolus and P. (A.) morgani in Iran (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)

Comp Cytogenet. 2017 Nov 21;11(4):759-768. doi: 10.3897/CompCytogen.v11i4.20876. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Vladimir A Lukhtanov^{1

2}, Nazar A Shapoval¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Karyosystematics, Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
² Department of Entomology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.

Abstract

DNA barcoding has been suggested as a universal tool for molecular species identification; however, it cannot be applied in cases when morphologically similar species share their DNA barcodes due to the common ancestry or mitochondrial introgression. Here we analyze the karyotype of Polyommatus (Agrodiaetus) morgani (Le Cerf, 1909) from the region of its type locality in the southern Zagros Mountains in Iran, provide first chromosomal evidence for P. (A.) antidolus (Rebel, 1901) in Iran and demonstrate that these two species can be easily identified through analysis of their karyotypes whereas they share their mitochondrial barcodes.

Keywords: Ancestral polymorphism; DNA barcoding; biodiversity; chromosomal fusion/fission; chromosomes; cryptic species; cytogenetics; incomplete lineage sorting; karyosystematics; mitochondrial introgression; nomenclature; species identification; taxonomy.