Multilocus phylogeny and species delimitation suggest synonymies of two Lucanus Scopoli, 1763 (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) species names

Abstract

Phylogenetic relationsships of four nominal Lucanus Scopoli, 1763 species, L. swinhoei Parry, 1874, L. continentalis Zilioli, 1998, L. liuyei Huang & Chen, 2010, and L. wuyishanensis Schenk, 1999, are assessed based on mitochondrial (16S rDNA, COI) and nuclear (28S rDNA, Wingless) genes. The genetic distance is 0.0072 between L. swinhoei and L. continentalis, and 0.0094 between L. wuyishanensis and L. liuyei. Three species-delimitation approaches (ABGD, PTP, and GMYC) consistently showed L. swinhoei + L. continentalis and L. wuyishanensis + L. liuyei as two MOTUs. A new synonymy, L. liuyei = L. wuyishanensis, is proposed. Synonymy of L. swinhoei over L. continentalis is confirmed.