Species limits in polymorphic mimetic Eniclases net-winged beetles from New Guinean mountains (Coleoptera, Lycidae)

Abstract

Species delimitation was compared in a group of closely related lineages of aposematically colored Eniclases (Coleoptera, Lycidae) using morphology, genetic distances, and Bayesian implementation of the Poisson Tree Processes model. A high diversity of net-winged beetles was found in previously unsampled regions of New Guinea and ten new species are described: Eniclases bicolor sp. n., E. bokondinensis sp. n., E. brancuccii sp. n., E. elelimensis sp. n., E. infuscatus sp. n., E. niger sp. n., E. pseudoapertus sp. n., E. pseudoluteolus sp. n., E. tikapurensis sp. n., and E. variabilis sp. n. Different levels of genetic and morphological diversification were identified in various sister-species pairs. As a result, both morphological and molecular analyses are used to delimit species. Sister-species with uncorrected pairwise genetic divergence as low as 0.45% were morphologically distinct not only in color pattern, but also in the relative size of eyes. Conversely, differences in color pattern regardless of their magnitude did not necessarily indicate genetic distance and intraspecific mimicry polymorphism was common. Additionally, genetic divergence without morphological differentiation was detected in one sister-species pair. Low dispersal propensity, diverse mimicry patterns, and mimetic polymorphism resulted in complex diversification of Eniclases and uncertain species delimitation in recently diversified lineages.