Molecular and morphological evidence for the identity of two nominal species of Astegopteryx (Hemiptera, Aphididae, Hormaphidinae)

Abstract

The morphology of many insect species is usually influenced by environmental factors and therefore high phenotypic variation exists even within a species. This causes difficulty and uncertainty in species taxonomy, which can be remedied by using molecular data and integrative taxonomy. Astegopteryx bambusae and A. bambucifoliae are currently regarded as two closely related aphid species with similar bamboo hosts and overlapping distributions in the oriental region. However, in practice it is hard to distinguish between them. By incorporating molecular data from four mitochondrial and nuclear genes as well as morphological information from an extensive collection of live specimens, the present study indicates that A. bambucifoliae is a junior synonym of A. bambusae. The data also indicate that large-scale geographic patterns of population differentiation may exist within this species.