Biogeographic affinities, phylogenetic relationships, and diversity of ant species of the genus Camponotus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) present in Chile

The biogeographic relationship of the entomofauna present in Chile has been studied in different groups (e.g. Diptera, Coleoptera, Plecoptera), finding in many cases a possible Gondwanic origin, with a greater relatedness with the Austral/Oceanic entomofauna. In the case of ants, specifically Camponotus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) present in Chile, their biogeographic affinity with species from the rest of the world has not been studied, with only suggestions of a possible affinity with the Austral/Oceanic entomofauna. On the other hand, the phylogenetic arrangement among the species of the country is not clear, but the history of taxonomic changes suggests a greater kinship between two groups of species according to their similarity in morphological characteristics: 1) C. chilensis, C. ovaticeps and C. spinolae; 2) C. morosus, C. distinguendus and C. hellmichi. To date, no studies have been conducted to directly verify this proposal or to analyze the phylogenetic relationships among Chilean species. In the present study, we evaluated for the first time the biogeographic affinities and phylogenetic relationships of Camponotus species present in Chile through the estimation of a global and local phylogeny using molecular data, which were generated for the first time for Chilean species and complemented with sequences obtained from BOLD for species from the rest of the world. Additionally, specimens that could not be identified with the available taxonomic keys and whose morphological characters did not fit the existing species diagnoses were included in the study to evaluate their phylogenetic position and the possibility that they correspond to new species. The results indicate a greater affinity of the Chilean species with the Neotropical and Ethiopic fauna, in disagreement with the hypothesis of a possible relationship with the Austral/Oceanic fauna. Second, the relationships among Chilean species did not follow the expected pattern suggested by the taxonomic history of the species. It seems that certain morphological characteristics evolved independently more than once in different clades of the phylogeny. Finally, profound genetic divergences were found, both among known species and with specimens that could not be identified a priori, which in some cases also extended to lineages, presumably of the same species, suggesting substantial cryptic diversity and the possibility of several undescribed species.