Systematic Entomology最新文献

Triepeolus Robertson (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Nomadinae) is the second-largest genus of cleptoparasitic apid bees in the world but its evolutionary diversification through space and time has not been previously investigated. We present a dated phylogeny based on ultraconserved elements that includes 64 Triepeolus and 21 representative species of all seven other genera in the tribe Epeolini and propose a subgeneric classification for Triepeolus and its sister genus, Epeolus Latreille. Argyroselenis Robertson stat. rev., Pyrrhomelecta Ashmead stat. rev. and Trophocleptria Holmberg stat. rev. are removed from synonymy with Epeolus and recognized as valid subgenera. Three new subgenera are proposed for Epeolus—Ectopodus Onuferko subgen. nov., Gongronotus Onuferko subgen. nov. and Worfapis Onuferko subgen. nov.—and another three for Triepeolus: Placopyge Onuferko subgen. nov., Pseudodoeringiella Onuferko subgen. nov. and Rightmyera Onuferko subgen. nov. The subtribes Rhogepeolina syn. nov. and Thalestriina syn. nov. are synonymized under Odyneropsina and Epeolina, respectively. Divergence dating analysis inferred that Epeolus and Triepeolus originated sometime between the early Oligocene and early Miocene. Whereas the other epeoline genera most likely originated within the Neotropics, Epeolus and Triepeolus most likely originated within the Holarctic region, with the Bering Land Bridge identified as the route by which epeolines reached the Old World. Although Triepeolus diversity predictably reflects that of its main host taxon—long-horned bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Eucerinae)—the evolutionary mechanisms by which Triepeolus was able to diversify into the largest genus in its tribe are not yet clear and require further investigation.

Blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) occur worldwide and exhibit a wide range of larval feeding habits, including saprophagy, coprophagy, parasitism and predation. Understanding their biology is critical for medical and veterinary science and ecology. Calliphorids thrive across a range of habitats and exhibit complex life histories, with larvae developing immersed in their food substrate, while adults are free-living and have diverse feeding strategies. Some species have evolved specialized parasitic associations with vertebrate or invertebrate hosts, which are behaviors with important implications for agriculture and for understanding evolutionary transitions between saprophagy and parasitism. This study presents a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the Calliphoridae, utilizing 711 of 736 analysed nuclear genes, using anchored hybrid enrichment, from a global collection of blow flies and their relatives. Our results provide a robust and novel reconstruction of the evolutionary history of this group, pinpointing major transitions in larval feeding habits. We argue that saprophagy evolved independently multiple times from invertebrate parasitic ancestors, with vertebrate parasitism emerging from a number of different feeding strategies. These findings challenge prior hypotheses and offer new insights into the adaptive traits driving trophic specialization and diversification in this group.

Classifying organisms is fundamental in biodiversity research, but time-consuming. Although technological advances in species discovery and phylogenetic analysis have marked the early 21st century, we are far from achieving a comprehensive inventory of species diversity, as many taxa remain largely undocumented. Discovering or classifying lineages without formally describing and naming them leaves biodiversity knowledge incomplete and non-interoperable, as such units cannot be consistently referenced or validated across datasets and disciplines. Accelerating formal species description therefore requires a strategic, data-driven plan to maximize efforts with finite resources. Using a uniquely complete dataset, we explored past, current and projected trends in the description of the megadiverse yet largely understudied true flies (Insecta: Diptera). We found evidence of a persistent global decline in Diptera species descriptions since the late 1990s. At current rates, it will take centuries to describe even the well-studied groups, which represent only a fraction of Diptera diversity. We argue that many other insect orders are in the same conditions, given the misalignment of research priorities, under-utilization of emerging tools, the overall shortage of taxonomic expertise and the limited availability of curated data for neglected groups. To address these challenges, we propose five strategic priorities for a renewed, data-integrative taxonomy aimed at accelerating the formal description of species, with potential applications across much of the remaining undocumented animal diversity.

Click beetles (Elateridae) have garnered scientific interest due to their diversity, bioluminescence and ontogenetic modifications. However, their classification is still poorly resolved. Here, we explore the internal relationships by analysing 45 tribes and ~4200 orthologs. We classify elaterids into 17 subfamilies and 51 tribes. We propose new ranks for Protelaterinae stat. nov., Thylacosternini stat. nov. (Lissominae), Semiotina stat. nov. (Dendrometrini) and Aplastini stat. nov. (Elaterinae). We resurrect Drapetini stat. nov. (Lissominae), Pachyderini stat. nov. (Agrypninae) and Corymbitina stat. nov. (Dendrometrini) and synonymise Pomachiliini syn. nov. and Synaptini syn. nov. to Agriotini and Quasimusini syn. nov. to Negastriini. Hypnoidinae retains its subfamily rank, regardless of its documented affinities to Dendrometrinae. Our research provides a phylogenomic framework for understanding the evolution of morphological disparity. The non-clicking forms have evolved repeatedly in separate groups since the early evolution of click beetles. Cebrionini, Pleonomini and Plastocerini represent soil-dwelling click beetles living in seasonally arid areas. They exhibit high sexual dimorphism, but either both sexes are winged (Pleonomini, Plastocerini), or females have slightly shortened elytra (some Cebrionini). Omalisinae and Drilini (Agrypninae) have neotenic females with a modified thoracic morphology, vestigial to absent elytra and always absent wings. Aplastine females resemble Omalisinae but share biological traits with Cebrionini. We propose that genomic data suggest different relationships among clicking and non-clicking elaterids than earlier morphology-based hypotheses, which suggested the placement of some modified click beetles in Dascilloidea and Cantharoidea, respectively, within a cantharoid clade of Elateroidea. Future research should investigate the molecular background of ontogenetic modifications, concentrating on potential differences between slightly modified groups from seasonally arid regions (e.g., Cebrio spp.) and predators with highly modified neotenic females (e.g., Omalisus spp. and Drilus spp.).

The Neotropical butterfly genus Adelpha Hübner exhibits remarkable species diversity and striking convergence in wing colour patterns potentially explained by mimicry, making it an exceptional model for exploring trait evolution and its relationship with speciation. To date, unresolved phylogenetic relationships hinder a comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary biology of the genus. Using a novel multi-marker dataset combining one mitochondrial and 15 nuclear gene fragments, we generate the most comprehensive phylogeny of the genus Adelpha to revisit its systematics and investigate the evolution of mimicry colour patterns. Our dataset encompasses 83 of the 87 known extant species and six Limenitis species that were recently excluded from Adelpha (134 of c. 160 subspecies in total), collectively displaying 14 distinct mimicry patterns. We provide conclusive evidence that corroborates previous work on the polyphyly of Adelpha as historically conceived and describe the genus Adelphina Páez & Willmott n. gen. to stabilise the nomenclature. The comprehensive phylogeny provided in this study lays a solid foundation for future research into the processes driving diversification within these species interacting through mimicry. Ancestral character state reconstruction reveals the gradual evolution of mimicry patterns. The more common mimicry pattern IPHICLUS (forewing with orange subapical spot and white band) is inferred as ancestral, but repeated convergent evolution is also recovered. Evolutionary convergence is also observed for the second most abundant mimicry pattern, COCALA (orange-white banded). Increased rates of mimicry pattern evolution are also found towards the equator. These results underscore the complexity of mimicry evolution in the Neotropical limenitidines, i.e., Adelpha and Adelphina n. gen., emphasising the need to explore its interplay with other biotic and abiotic factors.

Accounting for the estimated number of undescribed species, Gelechioidea are thought to be among the most species-rich superfamilies of Lepidoptera, with 18,500 described species, including numerous pests of economically significant crops such as cotton, tomato and wheat. Family-level topology of the superfamily and the extent and the number of accepted families have received important revisions throughout the previous phylogenetic work on the group. Here we extracted 1767 nuclear protein-coding genes from genomic and transcriptomic data from 57 ingroup taxa, including Haplochrois buvati Baldizzone and Urodeta hibernella Staudinger, for which the whole-genome sequences were generated in this study. We first analyse this phylogenomic dataset within a maximum likelihood framework to revisit the interfamilial relationships within Gelechioidea and then integrate it with the existing taxon-rich, Sanger-sequenced data from up to 24 genes to re-evaluate the extent of the 20 currently accepted families by analysing this integrated dataset encompassing 381 ingroup taxa. Although we also recover some of the previously suggested multifamilial clades, the backbone topology we infer presents novel arrangements of families compared to previously published work: overall, we observe that Gelechioidea have diversified in four main lineages and find Stenomatinae (Depressariidae) to be sister to the rest of Gelechioidea. We therefore elevate it to family, Stenomatidae stat. nov. Moreover, we find the current circumscription of Elachistidae to be non-monophyletic and propose a new delimitation to include the subfamilies Elachistinae, Parametriotinae, Cacochroinae (Depressariidae) and Ethmiinae stat. nov.

The enigmatic spider family Gradungulidae, endemic to Australia and New Zealand, exhibits a combination of morphological characteristics from both modern and early branching lineages. These spiders are rare, challenging to collect, and not well documented, with only 18 described species across seven genera. This study presents the first comprehensive review of the gradungulid fauna in New Zealand, utilising extensive field sampling, molecular phylogenetics, and high-resolution imaging. Previously, this fauna was understood to comprise three monotypic genera: Gradungula, Pianoa and Spelungula. However, we discovered an unexpected diversity of gradungulids in the northern region of New Zealand's South Island, both genetically and taxonomically. This led to the identification of several new candidate species, including Gradungula kahurangi, sp. nov. and Pianoa civis, sp. nov., which are formally described from adult males. Despite high diversity in the north of the South Island, these genera exhibit notable differences in their biogeographical distribution: the forest-dwelling Pianoa and cave-inhabiting Spelungula are climatic relicts with limited distribution ranges and poor dispersal capabilities, whereas Gradungula sorenseni shows a widespread distribution extending to the southernmost region of the South Island. Overall, this study establishes a significant framework for conservation biology concerning some of New Zealand's most iconic yet rare spiders. Additionally, revised and expanded diagnoses of male genitalia for the New Zealand genera are presented.

The identity of Termes fatalis Linnaeus, the species that gave termites their name, is still controversial since recent molecular and chemical studies showed that at least two different taxa match its description. This paper aims to resolve this uncertainty and provide an unambiguous characterization of the type species of the genus Termes. We collected colonies matching the description of T. fatalis in French Guiana, compared the morphology of the different castes with type specimens of the Termes species reported from the northern Neotropics, sequenced their mitochondrial genomes, analyzed the chemical composition of cuticular hydrocarbons in workers and defensive secretions in soldiers. Our phylogeny revealed that the current definition of T. fatalis encompasses three distinct taxa, distinguished by morphological details, the chemistry of cuticular hydrocarbons, and defensive compounds. One species morphologically matches T. fatalis, while another one matches T. panamaensis (Snyder) and T. medioculatus Emerson, which cannot be distinguished and may be synonyms. The third species, herein described as T. incognitus sp. nov., is new to science.

We utilized genomic data from 2539 nuclear loci (580,110 aligned nucleotides) to investigate phylogenetic relationships among selected treehopper lineages (Hemiptera: Membracidae), with a focus on the complexity of helmet shape. Although our sampling does not yet encompass all subfamilies, the dataset provides dense genomic coverage and a strong phylogenetic signal, resulting in well-resolved trees with robust support across nodes. Our analyses reveal that similar helmet morphologies are more common among closely related taxa—especially within genera, followed by tribes and, to a lesser extent, subfamilies—suggesting evolutionary conservatism in pronotal complexity. The helmet shape was found to be phylogenetically conserved and statistically significant across all taxonomic levels examined, showing a strong phylogenetic signal. These findings support previously proposed clades and reinforce the monophyly of major lineages (e.g., Centrotinae + Nicomiinae, Membracinae + Darninae + Similiinae), highlighting the power of UCE-derived nuclear data for resolving relationships within Membracidae. Furthermore, the observed patterns in helmet shape variation also provide evidence for the evolution of pronotal modularity across lineages.

Hawaiʻi's pinapinao (Megalagrion McLachlan) comprises a radiation of 23 endemic damselfly species within Coenagrionidae. Despite being a unique study system for understanding geology's impacts on evolutionary processes among Odonata, the understanding of these damselflies' temporal, geographic and phylogenetic origins remains incomplete. Testing macroevolutionary hypotheses has been hampered by conflicting topologies. To resolve these uncertainties, we performed phylogenetic analyses including divergence time estimation with 90 nuclear loci (>50 kbp) and 2 mitochondrial loci (>1 kbp), sampling representatives from 37 genera within core Coenagrionidae and 90% of Megalagrion species, including multiple island populations. We used ancestral range estimations, diversification analyses, agent-based simulation modelling and ancestral state reconstruction to infer the group's origin and biogeography and assess traits' roles in diversification. Our findings indicate Megalagrion's ancestor diverged from core Coenagrionidae in the early Eocene (~51 MA) and diversified in the early Miocene (~19 MA), suggesting Megalagrion's MRCA predates Kauaʻi's emergence by 7–21 MY. Diversification analyses suggest a low rate after Megalagrion diverged from Coenagrionidae followed by a sudden increase around 19 MA, and simulation modelling supports extinction playing a significant role. Extant Megalagrion diversity is largely explained by ecological diversification into at least five clades with distinct breeding habitats that likely evolved on Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that are now-sunken seamounts. Speciation continued as descendants dispersed to current Hawaiian Islands as islands emerged. Species breeding in seeps further diversified within the island of Kauaʻi. Our results highlight including geologic changes over time in evolutionary studies and increase understanding of diversification patterns, biogeography and adaptive radiation on islands.