Unveiling the Mainland vs. Insular Variability of the Eumerus barbarus Species Group (Diptera: Syrphidae) in the Western Mediterranean Basin

Abstract

Comprising nearly 300 described species, Eumerus Meigen, 1822, is one of the most speciose syrphid genera worldwide, and its taxonomic diversity is remarkable in the Mediterranean basin. The Eumerus barbarus (Coquebert, 1804) group consists of four species in the western Mediterranean. Although the phenotypic variability of this species group has been commented on in previous studies, it has never been contrasted with molecular data. In the present work, the morphological variation found in 300+ specimens of this species group from the western Mediterranean is explored and tested against the COI mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The highest phenotypic disparity was found in E. barbarus and Eumerus sulcitibius Rondani 1868. The integrative approach has not revealed cryptic diversity within the species E. barbarus but in E. sulcitibius. As a result, a new species close to E. sulcitibius was discovered, Eumerus sardus Aguado-Aranda, Ricarte & Hauser sp. n., from Sardinia, Italy. The new insular species is here described, illustrated, and discussed. A total of twenty-three haplotypes of COI mtDNA were identified amongst the analyzed Mediterranean specimens of E. barbarus, whereas two and five haplotypes were distinguished in the Iberian specimens of E. sulcitibius and Eumerus gibbosus van Steenis, Hauser & van Zuijen, 2017, respectively. Moreover, the first known barcodes of E. gibbosus and Eumerus schmideggeri van Steenis, Hauser & van Zuijen, 2017 were obtained, and the distribution ranges of all species are mapped. An updated dichotomous key to the males of the E. barbarus group from the western Mediterranean is provided.