The relationship between molecular variation and variation in the wing shape of three aphid parasitoid species: Aphidius uzbekistanicus Luzhetzki, Aphidius rhopalosiphi De Stefani Perez and Aphidius avenaphis (Fitch) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Aphidiinae)

This paper examines the relationship between molecular and phenotypic variability among three closely related cereal aphid parasitoids: Aphidius rhopalosiphi and Aphidius uzbekistanicus from Euro-Asia and Aphidius avenaphis from North America. A. rhopalosiphi has the same distribution and shares the same aphid hosts as A. uzbekistanicus. The genetic variation of these parasitoids was explored using a barcoding area of the mitochondrial COI gene. Phenotypic variability based on the wing shape and stigma shape was explored using geometric morphometrics. Molecular analyses revealed the existence of two distinct clades: the A. rhopalosiphi clade, which is characterized by a high level of within-clade genetic variation, and the A. uzbekistanicus/A. avenaphis clade, which has almost no variation at the barcoding area of the mitochondrial COI gene. Generally, a high level of variation in wing shape has been shown within populations of both clades. Our results indicate that there is no relationship between the level of the variation at the barcoding area of the mitochondrial COI gene and the level of morphological variation. The genetically uniform A. uzbekistanicus/A. avenaphis clade had even greater variation in stigma shape than A. rhopalosiphi clade, which is characterized by a high level of genetic variation.