Out of Australia: the Argiolestidae reveal the Melanesian Arc System and East Papua Composite Terrane as possible ancient dispersal routes to the Indo-Australian Archipelago (Odonata: Argiolestidae)

Information on the origin of distribution patterns shown by freshwater invertebrates in the Indo-Australian Archipelago is poor. Here we present a molecular based hypothesis of the phylogenetic relationships of Argiolestidae, a family of damselflies found throughout the tropical parts of the Eastern Hemisphere. We use this to address the following questions: (1) did Argiolestidae colonize Wallacea and the Philippines from the Eurasian or from the Australian continent? (2) Is the presence of Argiolestidae in New Guinea the result of a single colonization event, i.e. are the Argiolestidae found in New Guinea monophyletic? The results show that clades occurring in the Philippines, Wallacea and New Guinea all originate from Australian ancestors. Representatives in Sundaland are most closely related to African genera and failed to reach the Philippines and Wallacea. The presence of Argiolestidae north of Australia is the result of at least three colonization events from Australia to areas that presently compos...