Colophon, Gray, 1832

Hayward, Thea Eldred Carlo Meloro Clarke Scholtz Declan Murphy Katie Fincken Matt, 2016, Does size matter for horny beetles? A geometric morphometric analysis of interspecific and intersexual size and shape variation in Colophon haughtoni Barnard, 1929, and C. kawaii Mizukami, 1997 (Coleoptera: Lucanidae), Organisms Diversity & Evolution 16 (4), pp. 821-833 : 822

Colophon morpho-taxonomy

Colophon morphology was first investigated by Endrödy-Younga (1986), who used morphological characters to create a dichotomous key for the genus and hypothesise phylogenetic relationships between species. Switala et al. (2014) have recently confirmed these predictions using molecular techniques highlighting the value of morphology as a reliable and powerful taxonomic tool. The phylogenetic placement of one species, Colophon kawaii , remains unsolved ( Switala et al. 2014). This species was undiscovered during Endrödy-Younga’ s study and is consequently not included in the identification key for the genus. Furthermore, Switala et al. analysed only two kawaii specimens, which either grouped as sister to Colophon cameroni Barnard 1929 , or nested within Colophon haughtoni . The species status of kawaii is further confounded by molecular evidence for its hybridisation with haughtoni , with which it occurs sympatrically in the Hex River Mountains ( Switala 2013; Switala et al. 2014). Geometric morphometrics have been successfully used to distinguish honeybee subspecies ( Apis mellifera Linnaeus, 1761 ; Hymenoptera : Apidae ) ( Tofilski 2008) and to identify cryptic Nebriola ground beetle species ( Coleoptera : Carabidae ) ( Roggero et al. 2013), and similar methods could shed light on Colophon systematics.