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

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. Molecularclock-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))). 619 ** Corresponding author. * These authors contributed equally to the work. validity of a recent morphologically based taxonomy of M. americana, M. graminicola and M. nipponica is examined, queen polymorphism is mapped onto the phylogeny to determine whether queen polymorphism is an ancestral or a derived trait in this genus, the phylogenetic tree is used to estimate the age of queen polymorphism in Myrmecina and the phylogenetic divergence of major lineages in terms of historical biogeography is discussed. MATERIALS AND METHODS