Abstract
Cytological descriptions and phylogenetic relationships are presented for the genus Cnephia s. s. All members are male achiasmate. C. lapponica is unique in that its basic chromosome complement is reduced from n = 3 to n = 2 metacentrics as a result of a fusion of chromosomes II and III. Sex chromosome differentiation varies from nonobservable in C. ornithophilia and C. eremites through C. pecuarum in which the standard and IS-5 sequences are distributed differentially over X and Y chromosomes, to the polytypic system of C. lapponica in which the X chromosome is fixed for expression of the nucleolar organizer (NO) and the Y chromosome for nonexpression. In a Norwegian population of C. lapponica, males are additionally interchange heterozygotes. A multiple sex chromosome system exists in which all the chromosomes are sex chromosomes. Closest members occur sympatrically and differ by sex chromosomes and at least one fixed inversion; more distant taxa differ by a number of fixed inversions as well as sex chromosomes. The identical bands 17B and 24C, which appear in a thin or enhanced form, are polymorphic, sex-linked, fixed, or lost in different members of the group. This study supports a model for sympatric speciation.

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