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Integrative taxonomy of the genus Dyscolus (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Platynini) in Ecuadorian Andes
(2020)
The genus Dyscolus Dejean, 1831 is a highly speciose taxon of neotropical Carabidae and the major component of high-altitude ground beetle communities in the tropical Andes. The aim of this study is threefold: (i) refine the taxonomic position of the equatorial members of Dyscolus using molecular data, (ii) provide a delimitation of the species found in Ecuador in páramo and montane forest environments based on a robust combination of molecular and morphological data, (iii) describe the new species and take the nomenclatural decisions made necessary by the results of this study. The seclusion of Dyscolus from more basal platynine clades including Platynus, Batenus and Glyptolenus, is supported by a phylogenetic analysis of the COI marker. Twenty-five new species of Dyscolus, most of them microendemic, are described and illustrated: D. aquator Moret sp. nov. (Tandayapa, Pichincha), D. arauzae Moret sp. nov. (Mt Cayambe, Pichincha), D. arborarius Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. barragani Moret sp. nov. (Mt Ayapungu, Chimborazo), D. crespoae Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Zamora-Chinchipe), D. danglesi Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. donosoi Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Zamora-Chinchipe), D. eleonorae Moret sp. nov. (Cotopaxi and Pichincha provinces), D. famelicus Moret sp. nov. (Papallacta, Napo), D. giselae Moret sp. nov. (Reserva Otonga, Cotopaxi), D. globoculus Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Zamora-Chinchipe), D. gobbii Moret sp. nov. (Guamaní and Mt Antisana, Pichincha), D. incommunis Moret sp. nov. (Tandayapa, Pichincha), D. marini Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja), D. piscator Moret sp. nov. (Guamaní, Napo), D. placitus Moret sp. nov. (Guamaní, Napo), D. ravidus Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja), D. rivinus Moret sp. nov. (Reserva Otonga, Cotopaxi), D. rugitarsis Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. ruizi Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja and Zamora), D. salazarae Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Podocarpus, Loja), D. silvestris Moret sp. nov. (Papallacta, Napo), D. sulcipedis Moret sp. nov. (Parque Nacional Yacuri, Loja), D. verecundior Moret sp. nov. (Mt Illiniza and Mt Corazón, Pichincha) and D. verecundissimus Moret sp. nov. (Mt Chimborazo, Chimborazo). Dyscolus palatus Moret, 1998 is newly synonymized with D. denigratus (Bates, 1891). We demonstrate the subgenus Hydrodyscolus Moret, 1996 to be polyphyletic and therefore consider it a junior synonym of Dyscolus Dejean, 1831.
The genus Cotesia Cameron, 1891 is one of the most diverse of the Microgastrinae, a subfamily of wasps that are exclusively endoparasitic on lepidopteran larvae. Species of Cotesia are widely utilised as biological control agents across the world. In Australia, there are currently 10 confirmed native species as well as four species introduced for the management of lepidopteran pests. The genus is morphologically conserved and has not been studied in the Australasian region for many decades. In this study, we use both comparative morphology and sequence data from the COI gene to delineate species, and in so doing describe seven new species from Australia: C. lasallei sp. nov., C. medusae sp. nov., C. ocellata sp. nov., C. reidarum sp. nov., C. scripta sp. nov., C. tjapekki sp. nov. and C. wonboynensis sp. nov., raising the number of species of Cotesia formally recorded in Australia to 21. We also provide updated descriptions of the previously described native species, diagnoses for the introduced species and a key to all currently described species found on the continent and from Papua New Guinea. This study treats only a fraction of the likely diversity of Cotesia, but provides a solid framework for future work.
The flower fly genus Afrosyrphus Curran, 1927 (Diptera, Syrphidae) is revised and a new species, Afrosyrphus schmuttereri sp. nov., from Kenya and Uganda is described. Diagnoses, illustrations, DNA barcodes and known distributional data are provided for the two species of this genus, as well as an identification key. A critical review of the published literature is also provided.