Phylogeography of a good Caribbean disperser: Argiope argentata (Araneae, Araneidae) and a new 'cryptic' species from Cuba.

ABSTRACT: The Caribbean islands harbor rich biodiversity with high levels of single island endemism. Stretches of ocean between islands represent significant barriers to gene-flow. Yet some native species are widespread, indicating dispersal across oceans, even in wingless organisms like spiders. Argiope argentata (Fabricius, 1775) is a large, charismatic, and widespread species of orb-weaving spider ranging from the United States to Argentina and is well known to balloon. Here we explore the phylogeography of Argiope argentata in the Caribbean as a part of the multi-lineage CarBio project, through mtDNA haplotype and multi-locus phylogenetic analyses. The history of the Argiope argentata lineage in the Caribbean goes back 3-5 million years and is characterized by multiple dispe

SUBMITTER: Agnarsson I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5096361 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature