Neotropical Entomology (2008) 37, 651-661

Claudio C. Ramírez, Marcela Salazar, R. Eduardo Palma, Cecilia Cordero and Luís Meza-Basso (2008)
Phylogeographical analysis of neotropical Rhagoletis (Diptera: Tephritidae): did the Andes uplift contribute to current morphological differences?
Neotropical Entomology 37 (6), 651-661
Abstract: Neotropical Rhagoletis species are arranged in four groups: nova, psalida, striatella and ferruginea, which include 18 species. On both sides of the Andes, the evolution of morphological differences among these groups has been suggested to be related to the Andes uplift process. In order to test this hypothesis, a phylogenetic analysis of morphological and molecular data was performed. The results suggest that: 1) Neotropical species of Rhagoletis constitute a separate group from Paleartic and North American species, with the only exception being a member of the striatella group having a certain association with the northern species. 2) Neotropical species seem to form a monophyletic clade, although statistical support for this is weak. 3) The split of South American Rhagoletis from other groups was dated at 4.333 million years ago, which is before the emergence of a continuous landbridge between Central and South América. 4) Within species distributed in South América, morphological and molecular data were coincident, placing species of the ferruginea group separate from the other Neotropical Rhagoletis. 5) The divergence of the ferruginea group from the other groups was dated at 3.882 million years ago, which is before the last uplift of the Andes. These results suggest that diversification of the ferruginea,psalida and nova groups, on each side of the Andes, was the result of a vicariant separation followed by dispersal and isolation processes. Thus, these results support the hypothesis that the Andes uplift has played an important role in Neotropical Rhagoletis diversification.
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Database assignments for author(s): Claudio C. Ramirez, Luís Meza-Basso

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
molecular biology - genes
surveys/sampling/distribution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Rhagoletis pomonella
	Rhagoletis cerasi
	Rhagoletis basiola
	Rhagoletis cingulata
	Rhagoletis tomatis		Chile (continental)
	Rhagoletis lycopersella		Peru
	Rhagoletis nova		Chile (continental)
	Rhagoletis ribicola
	Rhagoletis striatella
	Rhagoletis suavis
	Rhagoletis tabellaria