2 research outputs found
Biological and genetic aspects of experimental hybrids from species of the Phyllosoma complex (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)
The present work is a thorough investigation of the degree of
reproductive isolation between Meccus mazzottii and Meccus
longipennis , Meccus picturatus , Meccus pallidipennis and Meccus
bassolsae , as well as between M. longipennis and M. picturatus .
We examined fertility and segregation of morphological characteristics
in two generations of hybrids derived from crosses between these
species. The percentage of pairs with (fertile) offspring was highest
in the set of crosses between M. longipennis and M. picturatus, and
lowest between M. mazzottii and M. picturatus. Most first-generation
(F1) individuals from crosses involving M. mazzottii were
morphologically similar to this species, while only F1 x F1 progeny of
parental crosses between M. mazzottii and M. longipennis had offspring
second generation that looked like M. mazzottii. The results indicate
that different degrees of reproductive isolation apparently exist among
the species of the Phyllosoma complex examined in this study. The
biological evidence obtained in this study does not support the
proposal that M. longipennis and M. picturatus are full species. It
could indicate on the contrary, that both could be considered as
subspecies of a single polytypic species. On the other hand, biological
evidence supports the proposal that M. mazzottii is a full species