WING SHAPE VARIATION IN CALOPTERYX SPLENDENS (HARRIS) POPULATIONS IN THE ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, IRAN (ZYGOPTERA: CALOPTERYGIDAE)

摘要

C. splendens is found in most of Europe, large parts of Siberia and much of west and central Asia. There is great variation among male male in wing coloration. Traditionally, subspecific taxa have been distinguished by the size and position of the pigmented wing spot and by mating behaviour. About a dozen subspecies have been recognized, all of which are more or less geographically confined, but often with overlapping ranges and strong variation in wing spot size. Here, a geometric morphometrics is used to quantify morphological data and analyze the wing shape independent of wing spot size in 6 Zagros mountain populations, traditionally known as C. s. intermedia, based on wing spot size. 19 different points were digitized as landmarks on the left forewings of male male, using GPA (Generalized Procrustes Analysis). The results reveal significant wing shape differences between all populations except Markazi and Lorestan on the one hand and Fasa and Kazeroon on the other hand. These observations confirm the role of geographic (here Dena, Oshtoran Kooh and Zard Kooh mountains of more than 4000 m altitude) and climatic barriers in population isolation, but also suggest that wing spot similarity does not necessarily reflect the full genetic similarity and evolutionary grouping of populations. Based on the wing shape analyzed, C. splendens is split into 2 distinguishable population groups in central and southern Zagros with 2 different gene pools, even though they show the same wing spot size, i.e., a long-term isolation among the groups investigated has occurred and the wing spot is not an infallible character for identifying C. splendens sspp.