Research Colloquium: Taxonomic over-splitting or rapid diversification? An integrative taxonomy approach to shed light on the subspecies-chaos within a genus of burnet moths in Iran

Taxonomy is an essential tool to organize nature and enable scientific investigations as well as conservation measures for species. However, the discrimination of species or even subspecies often appears challenging. For instance, species of the lepidopterous genus Zygaena show a remarkable high diversity of different forms in Iran. In the past, this led to the taxonomic description of multiple species and subspecies in this country and its surroundings. For the delimitation of the taxa, previous authors mainly relied on external morphology, biology and distributional data. The presented study aimed to evaluate previous delimitations, using DNA barcoding, genitalia morphology examinations and species distribution modelling. This so-called integrative approach of taxonomy aims to combine species delimitation criteria from various perspectives. Our results revealed the classification of several taxa within the genus Zygaena to be uncertain. Furthermore, the probability of intraspecific variation and hybridisation will be discussed in the presentation, concluding that understanding speciation patterns can enable a more accurate classification of species and prevent taxonomic over-splitting.

Di, 07.05. 16 Uhr Museum am Löwentor und Online (via Zoom), Jannik Wagner, Naturkundemuseum Stuttgart

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