Fifty-percent majority-rule consensus phylogenetic tree of <i>Creatonotos</i> spp. recovered from Bayesian inference analysis of an alignment comprising 61 <i>COI</i> haplotypes of <i>Creatonotos</i> spp. and two haplotypes of the out-group taxa (<i>Arctia menetriesii</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>tundrana</i>).

<p>The island localities are in bold. Black numbers near branches are Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP). The red number near each primary clade is the probability of each species-level MOTU based on the highest Bayesian supported solution of the PTP model.</p

DNA barcoding unravels contrasting evolutionary history of two widespread Asian tiger moth species during the Late Pleistocene - Fig 2

<p>Phylogeography of <i>Creatonotos</i> spp. (<b>A</b>) Median-joining network of <i>COI</i> sequences (see <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0194200#pone.0194200.s003" target="_blank">S1 Table</a> for details). Photos (male specimens): <i>C</i>. <i>gangis</i> [Indonesia, Flores Island, voucher no. Sph0595] and <i>C</i>. <i>transiens</i> [Thailand, near Tham Lod Cave, voucher no. Sph0624] by Vitaly M. Spitsyn and <i>C</i>. <i>leucanioides</i> [Tanzania] by Roy Goff (with his permission; <a href="https://www.africanmoths.com" target="_blank">www.africanmoths.com</a>). (<b>B</b>) Map of approximate collection localities of the specimens in accordance with the respective countries (color squares). Small squares indicate island sites. The map was created using ESRI ArcGIS 10 software (<a href="https://www.esri.com/arcgis" target="_blank">www.esri.com/arcgis</a>); the base of the map was created with ESRI Data and Maps. (<b>C</b>) Frequency histogram of the barcoding gap analysis.</p

DNA barcoding unravels contrasting evolutionary history of two widespread Asian tiger moth species during the Late Pleistocene

<div><p>Populations of widespread pest insects in tropical areas are characterized by a complex evolutionary history, with overlapping natural and human-mediated dispersal events, sudden expansions, and bottlenecks. Here, we provide biogeographic reconstructions for two widespread pest species in the tiger moth genus <i>Creatonotos</i> (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) based on the mitochondrial <i>cytochrome c oxidase subunit I</i> (<i>COI</i>) gene. The Asian <i>Creatonotos transiens</i> reveals shallow genetic divergence between distant populations that does not support its current intraspecific systematics with several local subspecies. In contrast, the more widespread <i>Creatonotos gangis</i> comprises at least three divergent subclades corresponding to certain geographic areas, i.e. Australia, Arabia + South Asia and Southeast Asia. With respect to our approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) model, the expansion of <i>Creatonotos gangis</i> into Australia is placed in the Late Pleistocene (~65–63 ka). This dating coincide with an approximate time of the earliest human migration into the continent (~65–54 ka) and the period of intervisibility between Timor and Australia (~65–62 ka). Our findings highlight that the drying Sunda and Sahul shelf areas likely support successful migrations of Asian taxa into Australia during the Pleistocene. The phylogeographic patterns discovered in this study can be used to improve the effectiveness of integrated pest control programs that is a task of substantial practical importance to a broad range of agricultural stakeholders.</p></div

Simplified summary of expansion routes inferred across populations of <i>Creatonotos gangis</i>, and examples of male specimens and habitat of Southeast Asian population.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Map of expansion routes. Color circles indicate an approximate range of each population: Southeast Asian population (blue), Arabian–South Asian population (green), and Australian population (orange). Red arrows indicate the directions of expansion routes. The numbers near arrows show the mean age of putative expansion events (in thousands of years) obtained from the ABC model. The map was created using ESRI ArcGIS 10 software (<a href="https://www.esri.com/arcgis" target="_blank">www.esri.com/arcgis</a>); the base of the map was created with ESRI Data and Maps. (<b>B</b>) Male specimen, Maehongson, Thailand. (<b>C</b>) Male specimen, Kachin, Myanmar. (<b>D</b>) Paddy field, a typical habitat of the species, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. (Photos: Vitaly M. Spitsyn).</p

Mismatch distributions of <i>Creatonotos</i> spp. samples based on the mitochondrial <i>COI</i> gene.

<p>Solid black lines indicate observed distribution, and solid red lines represent simulated distribution under a spatial expansion model. Dashed lines represent lower and upper confidence intervals (<i>p</i> = 0.01). (<b>A</b>) <i>C</i>. <i>gangis</i>, Eurasia (<i>N</i> = 40 sequences; Raggedness <i>P</i> = 0.342; Model (SSD) <i>P</i> = 0.317). (<b>B</b>) <i>C</i>. <i>gangis</i>, Arabia and South Asia (<i>N</i> = 20 sequences; Raggedness <i>P</i> = 0.264; Model (SSD) <i>P</i> = 0.273). (<b>C</b>) <i>C</i>. <i>gangis</i>, mainland Southeast Asia (<i>N</i> = 20 sequences; Raggedness <i>P</i> = 0.089; Model (SSD) <i>P</i> = 0.331). (<b>D</b>) <i>C</i>. <i>gangis</i>, Australia (<i>N</i> = 15 sequences; Raggedness <i>P</i> = 0.910; Model (SSD) <i>P</i> = 0.736). (<b>E</b>) <i>C</i>. <i>gangis</i>, the entire range (<i>N</i> = 57 sequences; Raggedness <i>P</i> = 0.715; Model (SSD) <i>P</i> = 0.557). (<b>F</b>) <i>C</i>. <i>transiens</i>, Eurasia (<i>N</i> = 39 sequences; Raggedness <i>P</i> = 0.671; Model (SSD) <i>P</i> = 0.596).</p

Fifty-percent majority-rule consensus phylogenetic tree of <i>Creatonotos</i> spp. recovered from Bayesian inference analysis of an alignment comprising 61 <i>COI</i> haplotypes of <i>Creatonotos</i> spp. and two haplotypes of the out-group taxa (<i>Arctia menetriesii</i> and <i>A</i>. <i>tundrana</i>).

<p>The island localities are in bold. Black numbers near branches are Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP). The red number near each primary clade is the probability of each species-level MOTU based on the highest Bayesian supported solution of the PTP model.</p

ABC modeling of origin of the <i>Creatonotos gangis</i> populations.

<p>(<b>A</b>) Biogeographic scenarios that were tested under an ABC framework using <i>COI</i> gene sequences. Southeast Asian population: samples from Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and South China, Arabian–South Asian population: samples from Oman, Pakistan, India, and Nepal, and Australian population. Effective population size: <i>N</i>₁ –Southeast Asian population; <i>N</i>₂ –Arabian–South Asian population; <i>N</i>₃ –Australian population; <i>N</i>_2b and <i>N</i>_3b –hypothetical founder population for Arabian–South Asian and Australian populations, respectively. Time intervals: <i>t</i>_1a and <i>t</i>₁ –time of the primary split between populations <i>Pop1</i> and <i>Pop2</i> under scenarios 1-CG (before the mid-Pleistocene) and 2-CG (since the mid-Pleistocene), respectively; <i>t</i>_2a and <i>t</i>₂ –time of split between Southeast Asian and Australian populations under scenarios 1-CG (before the Late Pleistocene) and 2-CG (during the Late Pleistocene), respectively; <i>t</i>-<i>db</i>–period of low effective population size <i>N</i>_2b and <i>N</i>_3b since colonization of the Arabian–South Asian Region and Australia. Prior settings are presented in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0194200#pone.0194200.s007" target="_blank">S5 Table</a>. Evaluating the confidence in scenario choice using the direct (<b>B</b>) and linear regression (<b>C</b>) approaches.</p

<i>Ladislavella tumrokensis</i>: The first molecular evidence of a Nearctic clade of lymnaeid snails inhabiting Eurasia

<p>In this study, we provide the first molecular evidence for a possible connection between freshwater mollusc faunas across the Bering Strait via the Beringian Land Bridge using data inferred from gastropods of the family Lymnaeidae. The gastropods collected from geothermal springs in the Tumrok Mountains, West Kamchatka, Russia, share the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) haplotypes, thus being as sister to those recorded for lymnaeid snails in the <i>Stagnicola elodes</i> group from Canada and the USA. Two lymnaeid species, <i>Lymnaea</i> (<i>Orientogalba</i>) <i>tumrokensis</i> Kruglov and Starobogatov, <a href="#cit0033" target="_blank">1985</a> and <i>Lymnaea</i> (<i>Polyrhytis</i>) <i>kurenkovi</i> Kruglov and Starobogatov, <a href="#cit0034" target="_blank">1989</a>, were described from the Tumrok geothermal locality, but actually they are morphological variations of a single taxon of subspecies rank re-classified here as <i>Ladislavella catascopium tumrokensis</i>. This subspecies is the first discovered representative in the genus, which formed a dwarf race in a geothermal habitat. Our findings highlight the possible exchange between freshwater faunas in Beringia during the Pleistocene and an important role of geothermal ecosystems as possible cryptic refugia for freshwater hydrobionts.</p

The revenant: rediscovery of <i>Margaritifera homsensis</i> from Orontes drainage with remarks on its taxonomic status and conservation (Bivalvia: Margaritiferidae)

<p>Since <i>Margaritifera marocana</i> (Pallary, 1918) and <i>M. laosensis</i> (Lea, 1863) were rediscovered, <i>M. homsensis</i> (Lea, 1865) remains the only pearl mussel species known solely based on old shell samples from natural history museums. This is also the last pearl mussel species, which is absent in a phylogeny of the family. Here, we aimed to provide an integrative revision of the taxonomic status of <i>M. homsensis</i> from the Orontes Basin. Using a newly collected specimen from the River Karasu, Hatay Province, southern Turkey, five gene partitions were sequenced, the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI), large ribosomal subunit rRNA (16S), large ribosomal subunit rDNA (28S) and its D3 expansion segment (D3), and small ribosomal subunit rDNA (18S). The multi-gene phylogeny indicates that <i>M. homsensis</i> is a sister taxon of <i>M. auricularia</i>, but both these species are closely related to <i>M. marocana</i> by nuclear genes. The main conchological features, i.e<i>.</i>, the shell shape, teeth morphology, and mantle attachment scars, as well as Fourier shell shape analysis have not shown principal differences between <i>M. homsensis</i> and <i>M. auricularia</i>. Based on these data, we concluded that <i>M. homsensis</i> is a valid species that is most closely related to <i>M. auricularia</i>. Special conservation efforts for a population of <i>M. homsensis</i> discovered in Turkey, including the formation of a nature reserve, might contribute to the conservation of the species. Finally, an extensive search for surviving populations in Orontes drainage (southern Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria) and the Nahr-el-Kabir River (Lebanon and Syria) remains necessary to develop a transboundary conservation strategy for this unique taxon.</p

Shells of <i>Margaritifera dahurica</i> (Middendorff, 1850).

<p>A—Lectotype (ZISP: no. 7a). B—specimen from Komarovka River, Razdolnaya River basin, Primorye. Photos by I.V. Vikhrev. Scale bar—2 cm.</p