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The research group Phylogeny and Animal Evolution of the University of Murcia, focused on the study of butterflies, beetles and insects palo, is embarked on an ambitious project: to study the different groups of insects that inhabit the different peninsular ecosystems
His research began in 1986, at the regional level, when the species of a group of beetles known as carabids were cataloged.
Later, in the year 2000, they expanded their study classifying the almost six hundred species of butterflies present in the Region of Murcia at that time.
Currently, this group of researchers develops the updating of these projects, including other groups of stick insects such as the phasmids and the mántidos, family to which belongs, for example, the praying mantis.
All this financed by the Seneca Foundation.
These studies covering the southeastern Iberian Peninsula have allowed them to know the patterns of distribution of numerous species.
In addition, sampling of other natural areas in the Iberian peninsula has also been used to discover new species of butterflies that have not been known to date in certain areas, such asJordanita budensisyAllophyes corsicaen in the Alto Pirineo Natural Park and in the Valle de Arán, respectively, eHydria cervinalisySchistostege decusataen the Natural Park of Somiedo in the Cordillera Cantábrica among many other species.
Likewise, thanks to this research has been found a new species of insect palo, Pijnackeria recóndita, in the National Park of Sierra Nevada.
Described in the journal Zootaxa, this species was discovered in an area frequented by ski lovers and well documented by other researchers, so it was "a surprise of nature" explains Dr. Antonio Ortiz, researcher of the group.
For their study, the integrated taxonomy was used, including morphological, ecological and molecular description.
This research has made possible its participation in the global project The Barcode of Life, led by the University of Guelph (Canada), whose purpose is to identify all the organisms of the world by means of a barcode (acronym in English), obtained from the Sequencing of a gene present in mitochondrial DNA (cytochrome oxidase-1), which identify each species within a global database (www.barcodeoflife.org).
According to Dr. Antonio S. Ortiz, "researchers are usually moved for short periods of time, which also tends to be concentrated in the spring and summer months, so when studying the fauna of the natural spaces at the end Winter and autumn, species with different eco-physiological requirements can be found. "
Phylogeny and Animal Evolution develops its activity in the main natural areas of the peninsular mountainous regions such as Los Ancares in Galicia, Somiedo in Cantabria, the Picos de Europa in Asturias, Ordesa and Monte Perdido in Huesca.
There are also more nearby areas such as Sierra del Taibilla in Albacete, Sierra de María and Cabo de Gata in Almería, Sierra Nevada in Granada.
In the Region have analyzed the Sierras de Espuña, Carrascoy, Pila and Revolcadores, as well as the coastal areas of San Pedro del Pinatar, Calblanque, Bolnuevo and Calnegre, among other places.
In addition to numerous publications in national and international scientific journals, the group formed by Professor Antonio S. Ortiz and the scientific collaborators Rosa María Rubio, Juan José Guerrero, Manuel Garre, Pablo Valero and other lovers of nature;
Have published several books on the butterfly fauna of Murcia, the Valley of Arán and Serranía de Cuenca (www.entomoiberica.es).
The next 16, 17 and 18 June are scheduled for a meeting in Murcia, to be attended by experts from Germany, Britain, Italy and Brazil, among other countries, to establish a study of the evolution of insects sticks.
Source: Universidad de Murcia
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