Systematic Entomology最新文献

Accurately delimiting species boundaries is essential for understanding biodiversity. Here, we assessed the taxonomy of the leaf-cutting ants in the Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) species complex using an integrative approach incorporating morphological, population genetic, phylogenetic and biogeographical data. We sampled populations across the biogeographic distribution of the species complex and reconstructed their evolutionary relationships using ultraconserved elements (UCEs) as molecular markers. We evaluated traditional morphological characters used to distinguish putative taxa and performed species delimitation analyses to investigate divergence between evolutionary lineages. Our results support the hypothesis that the A. octospinosus species complex consists of two species: the widely distributed and polymorphic species A. octospinosus and its inquiline social parasite A. insinuator Schultz et al. We consider A. echinatior (Forel) syn. nov. and A. volcanus Wheeler syn. nov. as well as the subspecies A. octospinosus cubanus Wheeler syn. nov., A. octospinosus ekchuah Wheeler syn. nov. and A. octospinosus inti Wheeler syn. nov. as junior synonyms of A. octospinosus. We also investigated the biogeographic history of the species complex and the evolutionary origin of the social parasite A. insinuator. We inferred that A. octospinosus originated during the late Miocene approximately 6.9 Ma ago in the Neotropical rainforest. Acromyrmex insinuator shared a common ancestor with A. octospinosus approximately 3.4 Ma ago, with a crown-group age of approximately 0.9 Ma. Our phylogeny supports the hypothesis that the inquiline social parasite speciated via the intra-specific route of social parasite evolution in direct sympatry from its host. Our findings reshape our understanding of the A. octospinosus species complex and provide a foundation for future studies of Acromyrmex leaf-cutting ants.

Myrmecomorphy is the most common type of Batesian mimicry in arthropods. In the true bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Heteroptera), myrmecomorphy has been recorded in at least seven superfamilies, but not among the stink bugs (Pentatomoidea) until 2014. The only known species that exhibits a high degree of myrmecomorphy during both the adult and nymphal stages within this group, Pentamyrmex spinosus, was reported based on a single specimen, yet little was known beyond its morphological description. In this study, the biology of this species is reported as living in bamboo (Poaceae: Bambusoideae), in close proximity with a highly similar ant species, Polyrhachis dives (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Further, the phylogenetic position and the origin time of this stink bug species were inferred in the context of Pentatomoidea. The dated phylogeny indicates that Pentamyrmex spinosus is the sister group of Phyllocephalinae, a specialized grass-feeding subfamily in Pentatomidae, and diverged about 42.7 Ma (52.6–33.2 Ma), roughly synchronous with the radiation of the crown group of Polyrhachis ants (42.0–33.0 Ma) and slightly after the early radiation of bamboos (66.9–24.9 Ma). Our results suggest that the origin of this myrmecomorphic stink bug was probably driven by the rapid diversification of spiny ants and bamboo. In addition, our results also provide a reference framework for the phylogenetic and taxonomic systems of Pentatomoidea and Pentatomidae.

With 334 species, the subtribe Xanthopygina forms a diverse and ecologically dominant component of the Neotropical beetle fauna, ranging from the southern United States south to Argentina. Species can be abundant in a variety of microhabitats and are frequently encountered in tropical forests. Although a number of morphologically distinct genera are now well defined and identifiable, the subtribe still suffers from several poorly defined genera with relatively generalized morphology. The worst of these is the genus Gastrisus Sharp, which has never had a morphological definition per se and has, over time, accumulated many morphologically disparate species. This nebulous concept of Gastrisus has further made it difficult to generically assign and describe new species. Here we assembled a phylogenomic dataset using anchored hybrid enrichment across a broad sample of Xanthopygina, including nearly all described genera, a representation of morphological variation within Gastrisus and a number of undescribed taxa we were unable to assign to a genus. Both maximum likelihood and coalescent analyses converged on a well resolved and stable topology for the subtribe, which will serve as a critical framework for continued taxonomic progress in Xanthopygina. Nine major lineages were identified, most congruent with previous work. The limits of Gastrisus were successfully identified, and the monophyletic core of the genus was recovered as sister to a redefined Nausicotus Sharp, which included Torobus syn. n. Several large species of Gastrisus were resolved as a clade of the Xanthopygus group and are here placed in Drepanagrios gen. n. An additional six new genera were discovered but will be described and treated in detail in future papers. In addition to Gastrisus, Phanolinus Sharp, Xenopygus Bernhauer, Phanolinopsis Scheerpeltz and Ocyolinus Sharp were recovered as paraphyletic, resulting in Elecatopselaphus syn. n. (=Phanolinus), the re-validation of Leptodiastemus Bernhauer stat. ressur. and the redefinition of Xenopygus, Phanolinopsis and Ocyolinus. We propose Phanolinus scheerpeltzi nom. n. as a replacement name for Phanolinus peruvianus (Scheerpeltz 1972, nec Bernhauer 1917) (previously Elecatopselaphus).

The Cixiidae represent the most diverse family within Hemiptera Fulgoromorpha, accounting for nearly 20% of the described species. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of 147 taxa reveals a new evolutionary scenario for the family, identifying four major lineages: borystheninian (restricted to the Borysthenini), oecleinian and pentastirinian, grouped in one clade, sister to the cixiinian one. In the oecleinian lineage, the Oecleini are paraphyletic, including the Bothriocerini. Three groups are identified in the pentastirinian lineage: the Hyalesthes⁺, Pentastiridius⁺ and Oliarus⁺ clades. Within the cixiinian lineage, as traditionally recognised, the Cixiini tribe is polyphyletic, involving a basally separated Achaemenes clade, a newly described Chidaeini trib. nov., and the ‘true Cixiini’ clade, which itself remains paraphyletic, including the Semonini. The Andini tribe appears paraphyletic, including the Brixiini, and the position of the Gelastocephalini is yet to be confirmed. Despite its significance, the sampling remains incomplete, hindering, in our opinion, the formal taxonomic recognition of these lineages with formal ranks for a new classification of the Cixiidae. Fossil-calibrated tree analysis indicates that Cixiidae originated in Lower Jurassic, approximately 181 million years ago. The four identified main lineages diverged during the Lower Jurassic in some 12 million years only, 155 million years ago. All currently recognised tribes and new major clades revealed with this study were present as early as the mid-Cretaceous, around 100 million years ago; however, the Bennini tribe and the ‘true Cixiini’ clade emerged later, some 75 million years ago.

Leptocircini is a dazzling tribe of Papilionidae, including dragontails, kite swallowtails and swordtails. This tribe is widely distributed, notably throughout the tropics of Africa, Southeast Asia and the Americas, making it a fascinating model in evolutionary biology. However, despite accounting for 25% of the global swallowtail butterfly diversity, Leptocircini have been surprisingly neglected in phylogenetic analyses. This has left unanswered questions about their taxonomy and systematics. Here, we present a new taxonomic working list for Leptocircini, featuring 162 valid species. Using a combination of long and short reads data, we produced five new reference genomes, and we generated highly covered and scaffolded whole genomes for 148 individuals to infer densely sampled phylogenetic hypotheses. Based on mitochondrial or thousands of nuclear genes and multiple phylogenetic approaches, a robust phylogenomic tree is recovered, representing approximately 90% of the known species, which allowed examination of several key phylogenetic hypotheses. We found the monotypic genus Protographium Munroe to be sister of genus Graphium Scopoli. Additionally, we found that subgenus Paranticopsis Wood-Mason and de Nicéville is nested within subgenus Pathysa Reakirt, which we found is likely attributed to an ancient gene flow. We therefore synonymize Paranticopsis, syn.rest. To keep a consistent approach to subgeneric classification across the tribe and family, we devided genus Eurytides Hübner into three subgenera: Mimoides Brown, Eurytides sensu stricto and Protesilaus Swainson. This led to several taxonomic implications: Asiographium Möhn, syn.rest., Boreographium Grishin, syn.n., Hyalaus Grishin, syn.n. and Neographium Möhn, syn.n. are synonymized with Eurytides (Mimoides); and Eurygraphium Möhn, syn.rest. is synonymized with Eurytides (Eurytides). Our analyses finally raised concerns about potential taxonomic inflation in two species-groups within Graphium and Eurytides (Protesilaus). This study illuminates the clade's evolutionary history and paves the way for further research on this diverse group of charismatic butterflies.

Understanding how novel adaptive traits arise, evolve and impact other aspects of an organism's phenotype is a foundational question in evolutionary biology. We explore this by focusing on Onciderini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae), a tribe of longhorn beetles commonly referred to as twig girdlers because the females of some species girdle live trees to deposit their eggs. We reconstructed the first time-calibrated phylogeny of the Onciderini, based on three genetic markers (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 ‘cox1’, Wingless ‘Wg’ and carbamoyl-phosphate synthase domain of the CAD locus ‘CPS’), and used morphometric data, employing multiple models of trait evolution and phylogenetic regressions, to assess whether girdling behaviour predicts head size or head size sexual dimorphism. Our results indicate that onciderines originated c. 49 million years ago ‘Ma’ (95% highest posterior densities ‘HPD’: 44.1–54.57 Ma) and consist of two major lineages, which we formalize as subtribes Hypsiomatina and Onciderina. Additionally, our analyses revealed several taxonomic inconsistencies within the tribe, which we rectify by proposing new synonymies, including Jamesia Jekel as a synonym of Hypselomus Perty, Cipriscola Dillon & Dillon of Hypsioma Audinet-Serville and Psyllotoxus Thomson and Taricanus Thomson as a synonym of Oncideres Lacordaire, and a new combination for Periergates kenjii Nearns & Swift as Oncideres kenjii (Nearns & Swift) comb. nov. Using this new phylogenetic framework, we identified five independent unidirectional origins of girdling behaviour within the tribe. Overall, our results suggest that girdling influences head size evolution in Onciderini, as it is associated with an increase in both male and female head size of girdler species. Despite this, girdling and non-girdling lineages do not consistently differ in head size sexual dimorphism. This study refines the classification of Onciderini and marks a significant step in understanding the evolutionary dynamics shaping the diversity of twig-girdler beetles, a group with notable ecological and economic importance.

Latitudinal diversity gradients are one of the most widely discussed patterns in global biogeography, generally in the context of high diversity in tropical regions. In contrast, ‘amphitropical’ or ‘inverse’ distributions, once thought to be unusual, are increasingly recognized as common among many hymenopteran insects. One such group is the ant genus Dorymyrmex, which specializes in arid habitats throughout the Americas. To evaluate when and how Dorymyrmex acquired its present-day distribution, I sequenced partial genomes of 167 Dorymyrmex representing 69 species by targeting ultraconserved elements (UCEs). A matrix of 870 genetic loci was used to infer maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenies, estimate divergence dates and reconstruct hypothesized ancestral areas. These new analyses reveal that Dorymyrmex comprises four species groups, the D. flavescens, tener, wolffhuegeli, and pyramicus groups. The D. pyramicus group likely dispersed from South America to North America only once, via Central America. Like many Hymenoptera, this dispersal occurred before the traditional closure date of the Isthmus of Panama, corroborating and extending the results of previous studies. Finally, I discuss life history strategies of Dorymyrmex that may have contributed to the geographic and genetic radiation of the D. pyramicus group, detail significant insights into Dorymyrmex morphology and classical taxonomy with new comparative illustrations, and provide recommendations for future work.

In recent years, new wasp species and genera of Cynipidae have been described, and their species delimitation and evolutionary relationships have been supported using molecular markers. However, few studies have included comprehensive and extensive sampling of specimens across the complete distribution of a single genus. In this study, we analysed the phylogenetic relationships of the genus Amphibolips throughout its range using ultraconserved elements (UCEs). We collected 520 adult wasps from 401 sites in various geographic locations, predominantly in Mexico, and used 78 wasps for UCE analysis. Our results demonstrate that Amphibolips forms a monophyletic clade. Amphibolips can be further subdivided into four genetically well-differentiated clades. Each clade had morphological traits that could be collectively characterised. Species delimitation using molecular sequencing highlights the taxonomic complexity involved in separating and assigning species using exclusively morphological criteria. This approach offers an opportunity to refine current morphological taxonomic criteria or propose new criteria to establish more accurate classifications. The rich diversity of host species and geographic regions in Mexico represents a biodiversity hotspot for Amphibolips. The number of undescribed species remains high. This study facilitates the determination of appropriate boundaries for putative new Amphibolips species.

New Caledonian crickets of the tribe Lebinthini are renowned for their high endemicity and their use of high-frequency calling songs. Although previous studies have found them to originate from New Guinea around 30 Ma, recent discoveries of new lineages of Lebinthini in New Caledonia and in Australia questioned this result. Here, we describe Kanakinthus koniambo Le Flanchec & Robillard gen. et sp.nov., a new genus and species endemic to New Caledonia. We also describe three new species of the endemic genus Agnothecous: A. anonymous Le Flanchec, Vendanger & Robillard sp.nov., A. borendyi Le Flanchec, Vendanger & Robillard sp.nov. and A. kwakwe Le Flanchec, Vendanger & Robillard sp.nov. We include these new taxa and the Australian Lebinthini in a molecular phylogeny of the subfamily Eneopterinae, estimate their divergence times and reconstruct their historical biogeography. Our results confirm the monophyly of the clade endemic to New Caledonia and its origin from a single colonization event from New Guinea, around 30 Ma, shortly after the archipelago completely re-emerged in its current configuration, 34 Ma. We also infer an independent colonization of Australia by the genus Julverninthus from New Guinea, around 25 Ma.

Universal Single Copy Orthologs (USCOs), as a set of markers of nearly universal single-copy genes, show a superiority in phylogenomic inference. Here, we developed a Benchmarking Universal Single Copy Orthologs (BUSCOs) dataset, neuropterida_odb10, tailored for Neuropterida, based on high-quality genome assemblies and transcriptome data, comprising 5438 BUSCOs. A range of 1524–5328 complete and single-copy USCOs could be captured from the genome assemblies and transcriptomes of 104 species of Neuropterida. The reconstruction of a higher-level phylogeny of Neuropterida based on a comprehensive sampling and refined genomic data in reference to neuropterida_odb10 validates the efficiency of this BUSCO dataset for phylogenomic inference. We recovered Psychopsidae as the sister group to Ithonidae, and corroborated the sister group relationship between Sisyridae and Nevrorthidae within Osmyloidea and the sister group relationship between Chrysopidae and Mantispoidea. Furthermore, our findings highlight that focusing on alignments with a higher presence of parsimony-informative sites, rather than on the total number of alignments, can diminish errors in gene tree estimation, a process notably vulnerable to error when using multispecies coalescent methods. The neuropterida_odb10 BUSCO reference dataset holds promise for phylogenetic studies at various hierarchical levels, as well as for comparative genomics and the exploration of species diversity within Neuropterida.