Genetic divergence in the cave cricket Troglophilus neglectus (Orthoptera Rhaphidophoridae): mitochondrial and nuclear DNA data.

Abstract

In this study we used sequence polymorphisms at one mitochondrial and one nuclear gene (Cytochrome Oxidase subunit I and Internal Transcribed Spacer 1, respectively) to assess the degree of genetic divergence among 21 populations of the cave cricket Troglophilus neglectus (Orthoptera, Rhaphidophoridae), a species whose currently known range extends from the Balkan Peninsula to Southern Bavaria. Nineteen populations were sampled in Northern Italy, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while two populations came from Germany (Lower Saxony) and Czech Republic, thus well outside the species range. Molecular data revealed a high level of fragmentation, with most of the study populations bearing exclusive haplotypes, the sole exception being the German and Czech specimens, which carried haplotypes also occurring at Slovenian locations. Spatial distribution of genetic heterogeneity and pattern of genetic divergence argue in favor of a recent origin of the two Central European populations, possibly through man-mediated dispersal event(s). These populations being not considered, our data are in remarkable agreement with a previous study based on allozymes conducted on a subset of populations of the same species and, more generally, with what is known on the population genetics of peri-Mediterranean Rhaphidophorids