DOI: 10.3897/asp.84.e154913

Authors: Gabriel S. Ferreira, André Silva Roza, José Ricardo M. Mermudes

Abstract: Abstract Coccoderus Buquet, 1840 is one of the largest genera in Torneutini (Cerambycinae), composed of 14 species. A previous morphology-based phylogeny recovered the genus as a monophyletic group. Since then, four species were described in the genus. Herein, we expanded this previous morphological dataset with the inclusion of seven characters and eight species. We performed maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses. We used the Statistical Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis and the Bayesian Binary Method to reconstruct the potential ancestral ranges of Coccoderus. Our phylogenetic analysis recovered Coccoderus as a monophyletic group and shows shifts in species relationships, with two clades presenting new placements compared to the previous analysis. Biogeographic analyses identified the Chacoan dominion as a key region in the diversification of the genus, representing its ancestral area. Also, we described Coccoderus trimaculatus sp. nov., from Brazil, increasing the known species of Coccoderus to 15.

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DOI: 10.3897/asp.83.e143543

Authors: Jesús Gómez-Zurita, Anabela Cardoso

Abstract: In this work, we use a combined analysis of morphological and mtDNA sequence data to recognize and revise a group of species allied to the New Caledonian endemic leaf beetle genus Cazeresia Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2005 of the Eumolpinae, considered monotypic before this work. We characterize and describe 20 new species allied to C. montana Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2005 based on the recognition of morphological diagnostic traits and DNA-based species delimitation: C. australis sp. nov., C. clipeata sp. nov., C. corrugata sp. nov., C. globosa sp. nov., C. gracilis sp. nov., C. holosericea sp. nov., C. imperiosa sp. nov., C. impressicornis sp. nov., C. laevigata sp. nov., C. laticollis sp. nov., C. maquis sp. nov., C. ovata sp. nov., C. parentalis sp. nov., C. petitpierrei sp. nov., C. robusta sp. nov., C. spadicea sp. nov., C. subgeminata sp. nov., C. tibialis sp. nov., C. tricolor sp. nov. and C. wanati sp. nov. For C. globosa and C. spadicea we additionally describe the subspecies C. globosa altitudinalis ssp. nov. and C. spadicea bruna ssp. nov. We also propose transferring to this genus the species Thasycles humboldtiana Heller, 1916, Colaspis kanalensis Perroud, 1864, Dematochroma thyiana Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2008 and Dumbea striata Jolivet, Verma & Mille, 2007, as C. humboldtiana (Heller) comb. nov., C. kanalensis (Perroud) comb. nov., C. thyiana (Jolivet, Verma & Mille) comb. nov. and C. striata (Jolivet, Verma & Mille) comb. nov., respectively. At present, the genus Cazeresia includes 25 species, the vast majority distributed in the southern part of Grande Terre in areas characterized by ultramafic soils and we speculate that the adaptation to these environmental characteristics in lowland areas may be ancestral in this lineage. Two thirds of the species are only known from their type locality, thus treated as potential microendemics, and most other have reduced ranges generally spanning few tens of kilometres. Finally, the degree of species sympatry or parapatry exhibited by Cazeresia is noteworthy, which in the absence of marked morphological differences among species suggests the possibility of the interplay of ecological mechanisms to minimize competition and exclusion.

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DOI: 10.3897/asp.79.e65325

Authors: Lech Karpiński, Wojciech T. Szczepański, Radosław Plewa, Lech Kruszelnicki, Katarzyna Koszela, Jacek Hilszczanski

Abstract: This paper sheds the first light on the phylogeny of the Central Asian genus Turanium Baeckmann, 1922. By applying an integrative taxonomy approach, we revealed and described a new species from Kyrgyzstan—Turanium losi Karpiński, Plewa & Hilszczański sp. nov. Distinguishing characters from closely related Turanium pilosum (Reitter, 1891) are presented and their ecological associations are discussed. The key characters, including the male terminalia, were examined by means of scanning electron microscopy. High-quality stacked photographs of the habitus of the specimens are presented for both species and their geographical distributions are mapped. While the new species shows stable morphological characters that allow its differentiation from T. pilosum and the COI genetic distance between them is approx. 3%, the different species delimitation methods gave discordant results. Although the new species remained unrecognized for so long, it seems that these cerambycids are common in the region and both can be considered potentially invasive as they are apparently highly polyphagous. It has also been documented that they occur sympatrically in Kyrgyzstan. Both the Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses of COI sequences confirmed the monophyly of the genus Turanium with strong support (PP 1 and BS 90, respectively). Moreover, the recently revealed polyphyly of the tribe Callidiini was supported by our analyses and, consequently, the discussion on the establishment of a new tribe Ropalopini is raised. This study further corroborates the effectiveness of DNA barcoding as a tool in detecting new species and provides some of the first sequences for Central Asian cerambycids, which remain almost completely unknown in terms of molecular studies.

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DOI: 10.3897/asp.79.e66966

Authors: Stephanie Haddad, Nayeli Gutiérrez, Felipe A. Noguera, Seunggwan Shin, Petr Svacha, Duane D. McKenna

Abstract: Taxonomic placement of the enigmatic monotypic Mexican longhorned beetle genus Vesperoctenus Bates is examined through inclusion in and reanalysis of the dataset of Haddad et al. (2018, Systematic Entomology 43: 68–89). We describe and discuss the phylogenetic significance of the internal structures of a recently collected V. flohri female from the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range in Mexico, the same specimen from which phylogenomic data was generated. Our phylogenomic analyses (469 genes) recovered Vesperoctenus with maximal statistical support within the cerambyciform family Vesperidae, sister to Vesperus Dejean (Vesperinae). Vesperus + Vesperoctenus were recovered sister to Philinae, and collectively form a clade sister to Anoplodermatinae. Thus, we place V. flohri within Vesperidae: Vesperinae: Vesperoctenini based on analyses of large-scale phylogenomic data. Finally, we propose that the conservation status of V. flohri merits assessment.

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DOI: 10.3897/asp.79.e61499

Authors: Lech Karpiński, Patrick Gorring, Lech Kruszelnicki, Denis G. Kasatkin, Wojciech T. Szczepański

Abstract: This paper discusses ecological adaptation based on a case study of Anoplistes halodendri and Anoplistes kozlovi (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) that occur in the arid zone of Mongolia. By applying an integrative taxonomy approach, we revealed one of the first documented cases of sympatrically occurring ecotypes in Polyphaga and the second case of ecotypes in the family Cerambycidae. The results of the analysis of the ecological data, molecular analysis of mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear (ArgK and CAD) genes, as well as a detailed morphological examination, which consisted of a study on the male genitalia including the endophallic structures, supported the hypothesis that these two entities, which are commonly considered separate species, represent only ecologically adapted forms that are associated with rocky hills and sandy/gravelly plains, respectively. Therefore, a synonym is restored: Anoplistes halodendri minutus Hammarström, 1892 = Asias kozlovi Semenov and Znojko, 1934, syn. res. The differences in the elytral pattern and shade appear to be adapted to the different substrates in these distinct habitats. A probable scenario assumes that these two forms arose in parapatry, independently in multiple populations, under parallel speciation during the intensification of the aridification across the region in the period during which the Gobi Desert was formed (~ 24 to 2.6 Ma) and they may evolve into separate species in the future. The phylogenetic relationships of some taxa representing the most closely related genera of the tribe Trachyderini were analysed and the questioned species status of Anoplistes jacobsoni was confirmed. Low interspecific differences in the endophallic structures in the genus Anoplistes and between some species of the genus Amarysius indicate that they are evolutionarily relatively young groups. The practical differences between ecotype and subspecies are also discussed.

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