Upon advances in sequencing techniques, more and more morphologically identical organisms are identified as cryptic species. Often, mutualistic interactions are proposed as drivers of diversification. Species of the Neotropical parabiotic ant association between Crematogaster levior and Camponotus femoratus are known for highly diverse cuticular hydrocarbon (CHC) profiles, which in insects serve as desiccation barrier but also as communication cues. In the present study we investigated the association of the ants’ CHC profiles to genotypes and morphological traits, and discovered cryptic species pairs in both genera. To assess putative niche differentiation between the cryptic species, we conducted an environmental association study that included various climate variables, canopy cover, and mutualistic plant species. Although mostly sympatric, the two Camponotus species seem to prefer different climate niches. However in the two Crematogaster species, we could not detect any differences in niche preference. The strong differentiation in the CHC profiles may thus suggest either a possible role during speciation itself by inducing assortative mating, or by reinforcing sexual selection after the speciation event. We did not detect any further niche differences in the environmental parameters tested. Thus, it remains open how the cryptic species avoid competitive exclusion, with scope for further investigations.
COI Alignment C. levior
Alignment of COI barcoding sequences Crematogaster levior
Clev_Alignment_COI.fasta
COI Alignment C. femoratus
Alignment of COI barcoding sequences of Camponotus femoratus
Cfem_Alignment_COI.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant1 (BEAST)
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.1". Contains all individuals for which all 4 nuclear markers and the mitochondrial marker COI were sequenced successfully. Used for analysis with BEAST to compute a phylogeny based on 5 loci.
Cfem_Alignment_BEAST_ant1.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.389 (BEAST)
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.389". Contains all individuals for which all 4 nuclear markers and the mitochondrial marker COI were sequenced successfully. Used for analysis with BEAST to compute a phylogeny based on 5 loci.
Cfem_Alignment_BEAST_ant389.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.1087 (BEAST)
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.1087". Contains all individuals for which all 4 nuclear markers and the mitochondrial marker COI were sequenced successfully. Used for analysis with BEAST to compute a phylogeny based on 5 loci.
Cfem_Alignment_BEAST_ant1087.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.1401 (BEAST)
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.1401". Contains all individuals for which all 4 nuclear markers and the mitochondrial marker COI were sequenced successfully. Used for analysis with BEAST to compute a phylogeny based on 5 loci.
Cfem_Alignment_BEAST_ant1401.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment COI (BEAST)
Alignment of mitochondrial marker COI. Contains all individuals for which all 4 nuclear markers and the mitochondrial marker COI were sequenced successfully. Used for analysis with BEAST to compute a phylogeny based on 5 loci.
Cfem_Alignment_BEAST_COI.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.1
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.1", Camponotus femoratus
Cfem_Alignment_ant1.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.389
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.389", Camponotus femoratus
Cfem_Alignment_ant389.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.1087
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.1087", Camponotus femoratus
Cfem_Alignment_ant1087.fasta
C. femoratus Alignment ant.1401
Alignment of nuclear marker "ant.1401", Camponotus femoratus
Cfem_Alignment_ant1401.fasta
Chemical data from Hartke, Sprenger et al. 2019
This file includes compositional data for cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of Crematogaster levior and Camponotus femoratus, as well as for polar secondary metabolites of Cr. levior.
Definitions of Morphologial Traits
This file contains explanations how morphological measurements of Crematogaster levior and Camponotus femoratus were executed.
Crematogaster morphometry measurements
This file contains morphometric measurements for specimen of the two cryptic Crematogaster levior species. The abbrevations can be found in the 'Definitions of Morphological Traits' file.
Crematogaster_morphometry_measurements.csv
Camponotus morphometry measurements
This file contains morphometric measurements for specimen of the two cryptic Camponotus femoratus species. The abbrevations can be found in the 'Definitions of Morphological Traits' file.
Camponotus_morphometry_measurements.csv
Crematogaster morphometry R script
This file contains a R script for the multivariate ratio analysis we conducted for Crematogaster levior.
Crematogaster_morphometry_script.R
Camponotus morphometry R script
This file contains a R script for the multivariate ratio analysis we conducted for Camponotus femoratus.
Camponotus_morphometry_script.R
Morphometrics functions
This file contains R functions needed to conduct the multivariate ratio analyses.
_Morphometrics_functions.R