Centro Universitario del Sur, Universidad de Guadalajara, Jalisco, México.
Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz. 2011 May;106(3):293-300. doi: 10.1590/s0074-02762011000300007.
The degree of reproductive isolation between Meccus phyllosomus and the remaining five species of the genus Meccus, as well as between Meccus bassolsae and Meccus pallidipennis, Meccus longipennis and Meccus picturatus, was examined. Fertility and the segregation of morphological characteristics were examined in two generations of hybrids from crosses between these species. The percentage of couples with offspring (fertile) was high in the vast majority of sets of crosses, with the exception of that between ♀M. phyllosomus and ♂Meccus mazzottii. In sets of crosses involving M. bassolsae specimens, no first-generation (F1) individuals were morphologically similar to M. bassolsae, but instead shared the morphology of the other parental species. A similar phenomenon was observed in most sets of crosses involving M. phyllosomus. These results indicated that different degrees of reproductive isolation exist among the species of Meccus involved in this study. The biological evidence obtained in this study does not support the proposal that M. bassolsae is a full species. It could indicate that, on the contrary, it should be considered a subspecies of a single polytypic species. The biological evidence does support the proposal that M. phyllosomus is a full species.
研究了 Meccus phyllosomus 与该属的其余五种以及 Meccus bassolsae 与 Meccus pallidipennis、Meccus longipennis 和 Meccus picturatus 之间的生殖隔离程度。在这些物种的杂交的两代杂种中，检查了生育力和形态特征的分离。除♀M. phyllosomus 和♂Meccus mazzottii 之间的杂交外，大多数杂交组合中具有后代（可育）的夫妇比例很高。在涉及 M. bassolsae 标本的杂交组合中，第一代（F1）个体在形态上与 M. bassolsae 不同，而是与其他亲代物种的形态相似。在涉及 M. phyllosomus 的大多数杂交组合中也观察到类似的现象。这些结果表明，在所研究的 Meccus 物种之间存在不同程度的生殖隔离。本研究获得的生物学证据不支持 M. bassolsae 是一个完整物种的提议。这可能表明，相反，它应该被视为单一多态物种的一个亚种。生物学证据确实支持 M. phyllosomus 是一个完整物种的提议。
