Genetic variability of the riffle beetle Elmis maugetii Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Elmidae) in Europe and North Africa

In this study we investigated genetic variability of the riffle beetle Elmis maugetii Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera: Elmidae) in Europe and North Africa. The samples barcoded in the present study cover the following countries: the Netherlands, Croatia, Serbia, and Greece. The analysis also includes additional data from Austria, Germany, France, Spain, Slovakia, France, and North Africa (Morocco). mtDNA sequences of the newly barcoded E. maugetii specimens were compared to all sequences available for this species in the BOLD and NCBI GenBank databases. The present study also provides data on population genetic parameters of the species [haplotype diversity, nucleotide diversity, Theta (per site) from Eta, Tajima’s D value], minimum-spanning networks, phylogeographic structure, and possible corridors of its recolonization of the European continent in the Pleistocene. Genetic diversity of E. maugetii was found to be lower in northern regions of Europe. According to the proposed evolutionary history of E. maugetii, the colonization of northern latitudes most likely started from the Balkan Peninsula (suggested as the species´ main glacial refugium in Europe) and proceeded via Central, Northern, and Western Europe, finally reaching the Pyrenean Peninsula (Spain). The specimens from North Africa (Morocco) are slightly distinct from the European ones. To judge from data obtained on the genetic structure of populations of this riffle beetle species, it is characterized by shallow genetic structure within mitochondrial DNA in general.