Phylogenetics of Australasian gall flies (Diptera: Fergusoninidae): evolutionary patterns of host-shifting and gall morphology

Scheffer, S.J, Davies, K.A., Taylor, G.S., Thornhill, Andrew, Lewis, M.L., Winkler, I.S., Yeates, D.K., Purcell, M.F., Makinson, J., and Giblin-Davis, R.M. (2017) Phylogenetics of Australasian gall flies (Diptera: Fergusoninidae): evolutionary patterns of host-shifting and gall morphology. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 115. pp. 140-160.

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Abstract

This study investigated host-specificity and phylogenetic relationships in Australian galling flies, Fergusonina Malloch (Diptera: Fergusoninidae), in order to assess diversity and explore the evolutionary history of host plant affiliation and gall morphology. A DNA barcoding approach using COI data from 203 Fergusonina specimens from 5 gall types on 56 host plant species indicated 85 presumptive fly species. These exhibited a high degree of host specificity; of the 40 species with multiple representatives, each fed only on a single host genus, 29 (72.5%) were strictly monophagous, and 11 (27.5%) were reared from multiple closely related hosts. COI variation within species was not correlated with either sample size or geographic distance. However variation was greater within oligophagous species, consistent with expectations of the initial stages of host-associated divergence during speciation. Phylogenetic analysis using both nuclear and mitochondrial genes revealed host genus-restricted clades but also clear evidence of multiple colonizations of both host plant genus and host species. With the exception of unilocular peagalls, evolution of gall type was somewhat constrained, but to a lesser degree than host plant association. Unilocular peagalls arose more often than any other gall type, were primarily located at the tips of the phylogeny, and did not form clades comprising more than a few species. For ecological reasons, species of this gall type are predicted to harbor substantially less genetic variation than others, possibly reducing evolutionary flexibility resulting in reduced diversification in unilocular gallers.

Item ID: 52073
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1095-9513
Keywords: Fergusonina; multigene phylogeny; host specificity; galling insects; myrtaceae
Funders: US Department of Agricluture (USDA), Australian Biological Resources (ABR), CSIRO
Projects and Grants: USDA Special Grant in Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture CRSR-99-34135-8478, USDA Special Grant in Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture CRSR-03-34135-14078, ABR survey grant, CSIRO McMaster Fellowship
Date Deposited: 01 Mar 2018 05:18
FoR Codes: 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3104 Evolutionary biology > 310401 Animal systematics and taxonomy @ 60%
31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3104 Evolutionary biology > 310403 Biological adaptation @ 20%
31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3104 Evolutionary biology > 310410 Phylogeny and comparative analysis @ 20%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960803 Documentation of Undescribed Flora and Fauna @ 50%
97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970106 Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences @ 50%
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