Taxonomy, phylogeography and climate relations of the Western Palaearctic spurge hawkmoth (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae, Macroglossinae)

Hundsdoerfer, AK., Mende, MB., Kitching, IJ. & Cordellier, M. (2011). Taxonomy, phylogeography and climate relations of the Western Palaearctic spurge hawkmoth (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae, Macroglossinae). —Zoologica Scripta, 40, 403–417. The primary aim of this study was to analyse mitochondrial genetic variability within the Hyles euphorbiae lineage in the Western Palaearctic, where observations of morphology have indicated much greater differentiation than is implied by the current taxonomy. The scope of the study is broadened further by including an analysis of the possible influences of climatic factors on lineage distributions. Mitochondrial sequences from three genes totalling an unambiguous alignment of 2284 bp were obtained for 356 individuals of the H. euphorbiae complex (HEC) s.s. Genetic admixture, network and climatic factor analyses were used to analyse the data. Unexpected mitochondrial variability was uncovered within the distribution range of H. euphorbiae in southern Europe, with two additional distinct clusters being found, both with rather patchy occurrences. The results of the genetic analysis presented here confirm a distinct H. cretica on Crete and the Dodecanese Islands and a distinct H. robertsi in Iran that hybridises with H. euphorbiae. Comparison of the molecular data with larval morphology shows only limited correlation of genetic clusters with pattern elements. The genetic network of the HEC s.s. shows strong incongruence with traditional taxonomy. Ecological niche modelling based on climate data revealed that the three best-sampled clusters (H. tithymali, the well-known H. euphorbiae lineage from Europe, and the previously unknown mitochondrial H. euphorbiae lineage that occurs mainly in Italy) could all occur in southern Italy and on the Mediterranean Islands. Biotic interactions appear to explain the observed ranges better than abiotic factors alone.