D3167: Phylogeny of Chlorocypha (Odonata: Chlorocyphidae)

Recently progress has been made to understand the evolutionary history in many Odonata families; but some are still to be developed. In Chlorocyphidae for example, no extensive modern phylogeny exists. This family is known to form a monophyletic group, but further investigations are still needed in order to learn more on intrafamilial relationships. The sequences of the COI gene from Chlorocyphidae species with a special focus on Chlorocypha will be collected from the BOLD database. For species where no sequences are available, sequences will be isolated from specimens available in the cryo-collection of the MLB Museum in Brigham Young University, Provo, UT. Phylogenetic trees will be constructed using Bayesian inference methods, with Stenocypha tenuis and Platycypha caligata as outgroups. We expect at the end of this work to indicate genus and species limits and making an overview of taxonomic issues amongst chlorocyphids. Developing a robust and stable phylogeny of chlorocyphids will help to provide a deeper insight on the evolution of their life history traits.