Species delimitation under allopatry

Species delimitation of allopatric populations is challenging due to the inherent arbitrariness and subjectivity associated with it. This project aims to provide a better justified standards for delimitation of populations with allopatric mode of distribution. In this project, we studied genomic-level divergences between populations from within and across the continent in 10 species of Lepidoptera. We aimed to assess whether DNA barcode divergences reflected the differences in nuclear genome and whether the difference between population and species level divergences can be dissected using genomic data. We report varying patterns of divergences between populations, in some cases requiring further taxonomic work. Given that no single consistent pattern emerged across different case studies, we demonstrate that the delimitation of allopatric populations into species could be done much more efficiently and in a consistent manner if based on a large set of universal genetic loci.