Phylogeny and evolutionary history of queen polymorphic Myrmecina ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

The phylogenetic relationships in the myrmicine ant genus Myrmecina were analyzed using 1,281 bp of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene. Intermorphic queens observed in M. graminicola (Europe), M. nipponica (Japan), M. americana (North America; reported for the first time) and M. sp. A (Java) were reconstructed as an ancestral trait in this genus. Molecular-clock-based age estimates suggest that queen polymorphism evolved in Myrmecina at the latest during the Miocene. In terms of biogeographical regions, the inferred chronological order of divergence is: (oriental, (nearctic, (western palearctic, eastern palearctic))).

Keywords

• formicidae
• myrmecina
• intermorphic queens
• queen polymorphism
• mitochondrial dna
• cytochrome oxidase i
• phylogeny
• evolutionary history
• historical biogeography