Genetic Characterization of Some Neoponera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Populations Within the foetida Species Complex.

ABSTRACT: The foetida species complex comprises 13 Neotropical species in the ant genus Neoponera. Neoponera villosa Fabricius (1804) , Neoponera inversa Smith (1858), Neoponera bactronica Fernandes, Oliveira & Delabie (2013), and Neoponera curvinodis (Forel, 1899) have had an ambiguous taxonomic status for more than two decades. In southern Bahia, Brazil, these four species are frequently found in sympatry. Here we used Bayesian Inference and maximum likelihood analyses of COI and 16S mtDNA sequence data and conventional cytogenetic data together with observations on morphology to characterize sympatric populations of N. villosa, N. inversa, N. bactronica, and N. curvinodis. Our results showed marked differences in the karyotype of these ants. Both N. curvinodis and N. inversa have chromosome numbe

SUBMITTER: Santos RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6105101 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature