Francisco Novoa

Diversity of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in Galicia, Northwest Spain: estimating the completeness of the regional inventory

The diversity of Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in Galicia, Northwest Spain was examined. A long-term sampling was conducted during 1996–2001 and 267 species were collected, but including bibliographic citations a total of 276 species were recorded. As a result of this study the regional inventory has grown from 83 taxa cited before 1998 to the current 276 species. Species accumulation models were used to measure the inventory completeness and estimate the actual species richness of Chrysomelidae occurring in Galicia. Estimates were generated by analyzing both the rarefaction curve from the long-term sampling and the cumulative number of species recorded from Galicia since 1866. Values of total richness predicted by these different methods range between 290 and 323 species. Therefore, it seems that between 85 and 95% of the leaf beetle fauna was recorded and thus the inventory has reached an acceptable level of completeness.

Interaction between cholesteryl ester transfer protein and hepatic lipase encoding genes and the risk of type 2 diabetes: results from the Telde study.

Background and Aim Diabetic dyslipidaemia is common in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and insulin resistance and often precedes the onset of T2D. The Taq1B polymorphism in CETP (B1 and B2 alleles) (rs708272) and the G-250A polymorphism in LIPC (rs2070895) are associated with changes in enzyme activity and lipid concentrations. Our aim was to assess the effects of both polymorphisms on the risk of T2D. Methods and Results In a case-control study from the population-based Telde cohort, both polymorphisms were analysed by PCR-based methods. Subjects were classified, according to an oral glucose tolerance test, into diabetic (N = 115) and pre-diabetic (N = 116); 226 subjects with normal glucose tolerance, matched for age and gender, were included as controls. Chi-square (comparison between groups) and logistic regression (identification of independent effects) were used for analysis. The B1B1 Taq1B CETP genotype frequency increased with worsening glucose metabolism (42.5%, 46.1% and 54.3% in control, IGR and diabetic group; p = 0.042). This polymorphism was independently associated with an increased risk of diabetes (OR: 1.828; IC 95%: 1.12–2.99; p = 0.016), even after adjusting by confounding variables, whereas the LIPC polymorphism was not. Regarding the interaction between both polymorphisms, in the B1B1 genotype carriers, the absence of the minor (A) allele of the LIPC polymorphism increased the risk of having diabetes. Conclusion The presence of the B1B1 Taq1B CETP genotype contributes to the presence of diabetes, independently of age, sex, BMI and waist. However, among carriers of B1B1, the presence of GG genotype of the -250 LIPC polymorphism increases this risk further.

Coleoptera in a Relict Forest of Spain: Implications of Hyperdiverse Taxa for Conservation Strategies

Abstract Lack of taxonomic and distributional information on the majority of taxonomic groups (i.e., invertebrates) in many cases leads to the greatest part of biodiversity being overlooked, and it may vitiate conservation efforts. We stress the need for, and feasibility of, overcoming this drawback in a case study analysis of total local diversity of Coleoptera in a Spanish relict forest (Natural Park of Fragas del Eume). We assessed the reliability of estimates derived from a generalist sampling inventory of the actual scores of richness and abundance of the various beetle families. We found that ≈1,000 species are estimated to live in such a small area (≈90 km2). Because efficiency of the generalist sampling protocol of beetle families was uneven, their inventory completeness varies with population size and heterogeneity of niche occupied. Comparison of the performance of several sampling-effort surrogates indicates that individuals seem to underestimate richness, compared with database records or sampling days, probably because conspecific individuals are spatially aggregated and thus the collection of several specimens does not imply a greater sampling effort than collecting only one specimen. The relationship between richness and abundance is dissimilar among families. Cerambycidae, found to have smaller populations than other families, but representing a large portion of beetle richness, should be considered a conservation priority in the prevention of biodiversity loss, because local extinction of small populations is more probable. Regional or broader scale patterns of beetle biodiversity cannot be addressed due to the lack of comparable inventories. Thus, fieldwork and taxonomic effort on hyperdiverse invertebrate groups should be encouraged and extensively funded to obtain reliable biodiversity information to enhance the effectiveness of conservation policies.

Rare Failures of DNA Bar Codes to Separate Morphologically Distinct Species in a Biodiversity Survey of Iberian Leaf Beetles

During a survey of genetic and species diversity patterns of leaf beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) assemblages across the Iberian Peninsula we found a broad congruence between morphologically delimited species and variation in the cytochrome oxidase (cox1) gene. However, one species pair each in the genera Longitarsus Berthold and Pachybrachis Chevrolat was inseparable using molecular methods, whereas diagnostic morphological characters (including male or female genitalia) unequivocally separated the named species. Parsimony haplotype networks and maximum likelihood trees built from cox1 showed high genetic structure within each species pair, but no correlation with the morphological types and neither with geographic distributions. This contrasted with all analysed congeneric species, which were recovered as monophyletic. A limited number of specimens were sequenced for the nuclear 18S rRNA gene, which showed no or very limited variation within the species pair and no separation of morphological types. These results suggest that processes of lineage sorting for either group are lagging behind the clear morphological and presumably reproductive separation. In the Iberian chrysomelids, incongruence between DNA-based and morphological delimitations is a rare exception, but the discovery of these species pairs may be useful as an evolutionary model for studying the process of speciation in this ecological and geographical setting. In addition, the study of biodiversity patterns based on DNA requires an evolutionary understanding of these incongruences and their potential causes.

Diversity of Water Beetles (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Noteridae, Hygrobiidae, Dytiscidae, and Hydrophilidae) in Galicia, Northwest Spain: Estimating the Completeness of the Regional Inventory

Abstract Diversity of Galician water beetles (Coleoptera: Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Noteridae, Hygrobiidae, Dytiscidae and Hydrophiliade) was analyzed using a database created by collecting species records from several data sources. Most data came from a long-term sampling program carried out by one of the authors across the whole region but further local studies provided additional data. To assess the inventory completeness as well as to estimate the species richness, both an asymptotic model and some non-parametric estimators were used. Database records were utilized as a sampling-effort surrogate. Total richness estimations predicted by these different methods range between 117 and 131 species. Therefore, it seems that between 86 and 97% of the beetle fauna belonging to the studied families was recorded, so that the inventory has reached an acceptable level of completeness (113 species). A list of the Galician species of Gyrinidae, Haliplidae, Noteridae, Hygrobiidae, Dytiscidae and Hydrophilidae is given.

Diversity patterns in Iberian Calathus (Coleoptera, Carabidae: Harpalinae): species turnover shows a story overlooked by species richness.

Abstract We assessed the relationships between diversity patterns of Iberian Calathus and current environmental gradients or broad-scale spatial constraints, using 50-km grid cells as sampling units. We assessed the completeness of the inventories using nonparametric estimators to avoid spurious results based on sampling biases. We modeled species richness and beta diversity, using spatial position, and 23 topographical, climatic, and geological variables as predictors in regression and constrained analysis of principal coordinates modeling. Geographical situation does not seem to affect Calathus species richness, because no spatial pattern was detected. The environmental variables only explained 23% of the variation in richness. Spatial and environmental predictors explained a large part of the variation in species composition (58%). The fraction shared by both groups of variables was relatively large, but the pure effect of each model was still important. Our results show that it is necessary to assess the completeness of inventories to avoid drawing false conclusions. Also, Iberian Calathus represent a clear example of the need for combined analyses of species richness and beta diversity patterns, because the lack of patterns in the former does not imply the invariance of biotic communities.

The Western Palaearctic Neocrepidodera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) of the N. impressa and N. ferruginea Species Groups

Abstract The Western Palaearctic taxa of the Neocrepidodera impressa (F.) and Neocrepidodera ferruginea (Scopoli) species groups are reviewed. Twelve species are recognized, two of them newly described, N. carolinae sp. nov. from High Atlas, Morocco, and N. precaria sp. nov. from southern Spain and northern Morocco. Two other species are raised from the subspecific status, N. hispanica (J. Daniel) stat. nov. and N. peregrina (Harold) stat. rev., taking into account their constant marked external and genital differences with N. crassicornis (Falderman) and N. impressa (F.), respectively. A key for the Western Palaearctic region is provided, including external, male and female genital features for each taxon. Special effort was devoted to the identification of females, finding that vaginal palpi show useful diagnostic characters. Figures of pronotum, aedeagus, vaginal palpi, and spermatheca are presented for all species.

Faunistic heterogeneity across Eurosiberian-Mediterranean Boundary: Chrysomelidae (Coleoptera) in Galicia, Spain

Abstract The heterogeneity of the regional leaf beetle fauna from Galicia in northwestern Spain is analyzed to determine the influence of Eurosiberian-Mediterranean boundary on Chrysomelidae assemblages. We compared eight local faunas from both sides of the phytogeographic boundary between Eurosiberian and Mediterranean regions, taking into account the species richness and completeness of each inventory, its composition of zoogeographic chorotypes, and beta diversity between areas. The selected areas were coastal dunes and associated marshes, agricultural landscape near Santiago de Compostela, Atlantic mixed forest of low altitude in Fragas del Eume Natural Park, medium-altitude mountain ranges of Dorsal Gallega and Larouco, the temperate valley of the Sil River and high mountain ranges of Ancares and Eixo-Segundera. Simpson’s index (βsim) was selected as beta diversity measure, to avoid the effect of richness gradients and thus minimize the bias produced by the uneven sampling effort. A nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) based on βsim was performed to ordinate the local faunas, and a cluster analysis using the dimensions values for each inventory was used to recover the major faunistic groups. The Sil Valley is strongly discriminated from all other inventories by the NMDS and the cluster analysis and presents a ratio between Mediterranean and Eurosiberian elements markedly higher than the remaining areas. Among the latter, two other groups are recovered: the southern and eastern mountain ranges located near both sides of Eurosiberian-Mediterranean phytogeographic boundary, and the low- and medium-altitude areas closer to the Atlantic coast. Therefore, zoogeographic distributions of leaf beetle faunas in northwestern Spain do not fit exactly the standard phytogeographic zonation, because only the Sil Valley is found to have a distinct Mediterranean-type fauna, whereas Galician mountain ranges included in the phytogeographic Mediterranean region are clustered with Eurosiberian inventories.

A New Species of Hesperotyphlus (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Leptotyphlinae) from Spain and Key to the Hesperotyphlus besucheti Species Group

Abstract The edaphic genus Hesperotyphlus Coiffait is distributed exclusively in the western Iberian peninsula. Several groups of species are proposed, based mainly on Coiffait’s publications. A key to species of the Hesperotyphlus besucheti Coiffait group is provided. Hesperotyphlus reyesae n. sp., belonging to the latter group, is described from Galicia (Spain). Among the H. besucheti group, H. reyesae is close to H. novoai Outerelo based on similarities between the male genitalia. The species was found in an Atlantic deciduous forest, living in the humus layer. Male genitalia and other morphological features of several species are illustrated.

A New Species of Psylliodes (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) and Key to the Wingless Species from the Iberian Peninsula

Abstract A new species of Psylliodes (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini), P. cervinoi, is described and illustrated from Galicia, northwest Spain. The new Psylliodes, a wingless montane species, is compared with related micropterous taxa, and its relationship with the P. picinus Marsham species group is hypothesized. A key to the seven wingless species of Psylliodes occurring in the Iberian peninsula is provided, along with figures showing the spermathecae of all species. Male and female genitalia of P. gougeleti Allard, an Iberian wingless species, are illustrated for the first time.