DNA data and morphology reveal the existence of Kentrochrysalis streckeri Staudinger, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) instead of K. consimilis in South Korea.

In the present study, we determined that specimens of Kentrochrysalis consimilis collected from South Korea were K. streckeri, rather than K. consimilis, based on morphology, DNA barcodes and nuclear elongation factor 1 alpha ( EF-1α) sequences. The major morphological differences between K. streckeri and K. consimilis include the shape of forewing and hind-wing pattern elements and male and female genitalia. The DNA barcode analysis of the South Korean specimens and the Russia-originated K. streckeri showed a maximum sequence divergence of only 0.659% (4 bp), whereas that of the South Korean specimens and Japan-originated K. consimilis showed a minimum sequence divergence of 2.965% (18 bp), indicating that the Korean specimens are, in fact, K. streckeri and not K. consimilis. Phylogenetic analyses both by Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood methods strongly clustered the South Korean specimens and Russian K. streckeri into one group, excluding K. consimilis. The EF-1α-based sequence and phylogenetic analyses of the two species also supported data from the DNA barcode, indicating the distribution of K. streckeri in South Korea, instead of K. consimilis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]