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So different but nonetheless the same species: multiple geographic clines explain the diverse forms of the anthidiine bee Rhodanthidium caturigense s.l. (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini)

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Abstract

The name Rhodanthidium caturigense (s.l.) combines several similar taxa which have been described on the level of form, subspecies or species and which occur in an area which extends from Iran in the south-east, across the Alps in the north and to the Iberian Peninsula in the west. A detailed quantitative assessment of 17 parameters describing the colour pattern reveals that it follows a smooth geographical cline, with rich yellow coloration in the south being gradually replaced by more melanic colorations in the north. The correlation between geographic latitude and colour scores follows a linear pattern and is highly significant in both sexes (p < 0.0001). In addition, the body size also increases with the geographic latitude, also following a linear trend (p < 0.001). Females in the northernmost population are on average 7.0% and males 19.1% larger than those in the southernmost populations. Some morphological features such as the shape of the male clypeus and the form of the axillae are also subject to variation along a south-north cline. Finally, while there is no sexual size dimorphism in the southernmost populations (size difference, p > 0.05), the males are on average 9.7% larger than the females in the northernmost populations (p < 0.0001). These multiple clinal variations result in geographic forms which are often easily distinguishable from each other but need to be regarded as conspecific because of the gradual character change. Additional evidence that all these forms belong to the same species was obtained from sequencing the mitochondrial CO1 gene. The pairwise genetic distance between specimens from various populations is 1.42% with a maximum of 2.7%, and all specimens are allocated to the same Barcode Index Number (BIN) as established by the Barcode of Life Data System based on algorithms that do not use prior taxonomic knowledge. Rhodanthidium caturigense herewith turns out to be a species with high phenotypic plasticity and apparently a high epigenetic capacity to adapt to certain environmental conditions, not based on genotypic selection mechanisms.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

BMou:

Collection Mira Boustani, Mons (Belgium)

CMK:

Collection Max Kasparek, Heidelberg (Germany)

CSE:

Collection Schmid-Egger [seg], Berlin (Germany)

DEI:

Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut (Germany)

JSmit:

Collection Jan Smit, Duiven (the Netherlands)

MS:

Maximilian Schwarz, Ansfelden (Austria)

OLL:

Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Linz (Austria)

SMF:

Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt (Germany)

WA:

Collection Werner Arens, Bad Hersfeld (Germany)

ZMB:

Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Germany)

ZSM:

Zoological State Collection, Munich (Germany)

BIN:

Barcode Index Number

OU:

Operational unit

T1, T2 etc.:

First, second etc. metasomal tergum

s.l.:

Sensu lato

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Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Werner Arens (Bad Hersfeld, Germany), Mira Boustani (Mons, Belgium), Christian Schmid-Egger (Berlin, Germany), Maximilian Schwarz (Ansfelden, Austria) and Jan Smit (Duiven, the Netherlands), who kindly made material from their private collections available to me. My warm thanks for the loan of material to the Bavarian Zoological State collection, Munich, Germany (Stefan Schmidt); Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany (Michael Ohl, Viola Richter); Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Linz, Austria (Ester Ockermüller, Martin Schwarz, Fritz Gusenleitner); Senckenberg Deutsches Entomologisches Institut, Müncheberg, Germany (Andreas Taeger, Andrew Liston); and Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt, Germany (Steffen U. Pauls, Patricia Peters). Yulia V. Astafurova, Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg (Russia), took photographs of type specimens for me. I also wish to thank Hasan Koç, Okan Özgül and Rahşan Tunca (Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Turkey) for joint field work and various support. For technical support and for advice in the field of genetic barcoding, I wish to thank Hossein Rajaei, State Museum of Natural History, Stuttgart, and Stefan Schmidt, Zoological State Collection, Munich. Andrew Grace is kindly acknowledged for his comments on a draft of the manuscript.

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    Max Kasparek

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Kasparek, M. So different but nonetheless the same species: multiple geographic clines explain the diverse forms of the anthidiine bee Rhodanthidium caturigense s.l. (Apoidea: Megachilidae: Anthidiini). Org Divers Evol 21, 719–735 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-021-00510-2

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