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Zoomorphology
DOI 10.1007/s00435-013-0205-4
ORIGINAL PAPER

Species identification of the psammophilous tenebrionid beetles
Phaleria acuminata Ku ¨ster, 1852 and Phaleria bimaculata
(Linnaeus, 1767) from central Mediterranean beaches: geometric
morphometrics and molecular insights from species to population
level

Federico Marrone • Alan Deidun • Tiziana Curatolo •
Marco Arculeo • Sabrina Lo Brutto

Received: 12 June 2013 / Revised: 18 September 2013 / Accepted: 28 September 2013
Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Abstract Dominating global arid environments, from two lineages, a low-to-absent inter-populations differenti-
desert to coastal dunes, most Tenebrionidae are highly ation was observed, in spite of the physical isolation of the
specific in their habitat preferences and display limited sampled sandy beaches and of their geographical distance.
dispersal potential, thus exhibiting a remarkable degree of These two P. bimaculata lineages, hereby named ‘‘Tyr-
regional genetic and morphological differentiation. The rhenian sub-clade’’ and ‘‘Southern sub-clade,’’ might be
tenebrionid genus Phaleria is speciose and widely dis- compatible with the hypothesis of subspecific status
tributed, with P. acuminata and P. bimaculata having a already proposed for the populations from the Aeolian
wide Mediterranean distribution, with numerous morpho- archipelago (as P. bimaculata marcuzzii Aliquo `).
logical differentiations at population level, often described
as different taxa of doubtful taxonomical significance. In Keywords Sandy beaches Phaleria spp. Central
order to investigate the variability of the central Mediter- Mediterranean Species delimitation Molecular
ranean populations of P. bimaculata and P. acuminata and systematics Geometric morphometrics
to compare the results obtained with different identification
techniques, these species were sampled on sandy beaches
in Sicily (southern Italy) and on circum-Sicilian and Mal- Introduction
tese islands. Collected samples were studied through the
application of geometric morphometrics and the sequenc- The Mediterranean Sea is a basin that, with its noteworthy
ing of a fragment of the mitochondrial COII gene. Geo- environmental diversity along coastlines, can be considered
metric morphometrics and molecular analyses gave ‘‘a great natural laboratory’’ where to measure and assess
congruent results, allowing a sound separation of the two macroscopic and cryptic variability. The biocenoses
species. At the population level, the two species showed inhabiting the coastal habitats are subject to various forms
different patterns. P. acuminata showed a remarkable of environmental pressures, and their study is assuming
morphological and molecular homogeneity throughout the greater importance. In the face of an increasing pressure
sampled area. Conversely, two well-characterized sub- due to anthropogenic activities and climate changes, there
clades were detected within P. bimaculata, and within the is an unrelenting search for reliable target species for
assessing and monitoring biodiversity (e.g., Lo Brutto et al.
2011; Sara ` et al. 2012); accordingly, a sound taxonomic
Communicated by A. Schmidt-Rhaesa. identification of the target taxa, as well as information on
their morphological and genetic diversity, is certainly
F. Marrone T. Curatolo M. Arculeo S. Lo Brutto (&)
Department STeBICeF, Sezione di Biologia animale e necessary.
Antropologia Biologica, University of Palermo, via Archirafi 18, The coleopteran family Tenebrionidae dominates the
90123 Palermo, Italy arid habitats of the world, from deserts to coastal dunes
e-mail: sabrina.lobrutto@unipa.it
(Fallaci et al. 1997). Members of this family play an
A. Deidun important role in the food chain of sandy littoral systems
IOI-MOC, University of Malta, Msida MSD 2080, Malta since they contribute substantially to the consumption of

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