| Leptynia specimens were analyzed by karyotype analysis, mitochondrial gene sequencing and SEM of bodies and eggs. Here we describe a new species, Leptynia annaepaulae, and three subspecies of L. attenuata Pantel (L. attenuata attenuata, L. attenuata iberica, L. attenuata algarvica). The phylogeny of the genus Leptynia is congruent with a karyotype trend toward a reduction of chromosome number and the shift from the shared XX/X0 sex chromosome formula to the unusual XX/XY one. Chromosome repatterning appears to occur ahead of genetic differentiation, following a chromosome model of cladogenesis. Chromosome and genetic differentiation, in turn, appears to precede morphological distinction, thus realizing a condition of incipient species for most of the... |
