PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF SOME PARDOSA (LYCOSIDAE) SPECIES

In this study, 3 Pardosa species (Pardosa proxima (C. L. Koch, 1847), P. tatarica (Thorell, 1875), P. italica Tongiorgi, 1966) that have similar genital morphologies were analyzed by using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase 1 (COI) gene region. Haplotypes belonging to P. proxima and P. tatarica populations were determined. Pardosa proxima populations were exposed to low intraspecific mutation and exhibited a balancing selection. P.tatarica populations had a high mutation rate and an expanding population. The best evolutionary model that includes all samples were identified and a phylogenetic tree containing relationships between haplotypes was created. Similarities between intra and inter species were calculated. Morphologically similar species were found to be molecularly close as well. This findings show that P. proxima populations are not affected by environmental factors and their morphological characters are preserved. In P. tatarica populations, it was observed that the rate of morphological variation was high and affected by environmental factors.