Morphometric relationship, phylogenetic correlation, and character evolution in the species-rich genus Aphis (Hemiptera: Aphididae).

ABSTRACT:

Background

The species-rich genus Aphis consists of more than 500 species, many of them host-specific on a wide range of plants, yet very similar in general appearance due to convergence toward particular morphological types. Most species have been historically clustered into four main phenotypic groups (gossypii, craccivora, fabae, and spiraecola groups). To confirm the morphological hypotheses between these groups and to examine the characteristics that determine them, multivariate morphometric analyses were performed using 28 characters measured/counted from 40 species. To infer whether the morphological relationships are correlated with the genetic relationships, we compared the morphometric dataset with a phylogeny reconstructed from the combined dataset of three mtDNA and one

SUBMITTER: Kim H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2904707 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature