Integrative taxonomy of phlebotomine sand flies of the genus Sciopemyia Barretto, 1962.

The genus Sciopemyia Barretto, 1962 comprises 12 species and presents important taxonomic challenges, including species described from a single sex, morphologically similar females, and the occurrence of a species complex within Sciopemyia sordellii. To clarify the taxonomic status of the genus, an integrative taxonomy approach was applied, combining molecular data and wing geometric morphometrics (WGM). Sequences of a fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene from 10 Sciopemyia species were analysed together with previously published sequences using four single-locus species-delimitation methods to evaluate the correspondence between molecular units and nominal species. In the WGM analyses, 13 landmarks were selected and subjected to different statistical analyses to discriminate 11 species. A total of 53 COI sequences were amplified and analysed. Maximum intraspecific genetic distances ranged from 0.0% to 13.53%, whereas minimum interspecific distances ranged from 3.77% to 13.53%. However, for some species, only a single sequence was analyzed, which may not accurately reflect the true intraspecific variability. The COI-based phylogeny and molecular species-delimitation methods grouped the sequences into at least one well-supported clade for each nominal species, except for the pair Sciopemyia apicalis/S. sordellii. Cryptic diversity was detected in S. sordellii, S. servulolimai and S. shimabukuroae, generally associated with geographical distribution or biome. In addition, COI sequences were obtained for the first time for S. apicalis, S. birali, S. nematoducta and S. shimabukuroae. Wing geometric morphometrics did not clearly separate the species, grouping them into two main clusters. However, these patterns were congruent with the morphological taxonomy of the genus, DNA-based taxonomy and the geographical distribution of the species.