Falagoniamexicana is an aleocharine distributed from northern Mexico to Guatemala and El Salvador. It is associated with Attamexicana ants and lives within their piles of waste or external debris. The phylogeography and historical demography of 18 populations from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador were studied. The data set encompasses a 472 bp fragment of the COI. Results suggest that F.mexicana was originated during Middle Pliocene (ca. 0.5 Mya), starting its diversification at the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene. Populations were recovered forming at least four main lineages, with a significant phylogeographic structure. Evidence of contemporary restricted gene flow was found among populations. The historical demography suggests that the geographic structure is due to recent physical barriers (e.g., Isthmus of Tehuantepec) rather than ancient geological events. Also, recent geological and volcanic events in the east of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt and the Sierra Madre Oriental might be responsible for the restricted gene flow among populations. Skyline-plot analyses suggested that a demographic expansion event took place at the end of the Late Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles.
Keywords: Cytochrome oxidase I; Mesoamerica; mtDNA; “false Lomechusini”.
Justo A. Reyes, Alejandro Espinosa de los Monteros, Quiyari J. Santiago-Jiménez.