María Guadalupe Del Río

Revision of the genus Briarius [Fischer de Waldheim] (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Briarius [Fischer de Waldheim], senior synonym of Lamprocyphus Marshall, includes some of the most beautiful species of weevils within the Entiminae, Naupactini. It is closely related to Trichaptus Pascoe and according to the present revision has only two species, B. elegans (Roelofs) (new comb.), endemic to northeastern Brazil (Bahia and Espiritu Santo), and B. augustus (Illiger) distributed in northeastern Argentina, Brazil south of the Amazon River, and eastern Paraguay, in tropical and subtropical forests. After the examination of about 700 specimens from several localities we conclude that Briarius augustus is a complex species with population polymorphism (mainly in color vestiture) and geographic variation. Within it we have distinguished four subspecies previously described as species: B. a. augustus (Illiger) (= Cyphus oliveirae Roelofs, new syn.) occurs in Santa Catarina and Parana on the Serra do Mar (Brazil); B. a. germari (Boheman) ranges from Sao Paulo to Espiritu Santo (Brazil), along the Atlantic forest; B. a. margaritaceus (Sturm) (= Cyphus consularis Chevrolat, C.. gloriandus Schoenherr, and C. spixi Perty) is distributed from Santa Catarina to Bahia (Brazil); and B. a. varnhageni (Germar) (= Lamprocyphus jacobi Hustache) ranges from Santa Catarina to northeastern Argentina (Misiones) and eastern Paraguay. Subspecies have overlapping ranges on the Serra do Mar (Santa Catarina), where it is possible to see all the variation within B. augustus. This area, same as other coastal hills along the Atlantic forests of Brazil, would have been Pleistocene refuges where species inhabiting rainforests survived and diversified during the dry-warm cycles of this period, however, time since then was probably not enough to achieve reproductive isolation, since individuals of different subspecies of B. augustus were found in copula. The paper includes descriptions and illustrations of the two valid species of the genus, and the subspecies of B. augustus. It also provides dichotomous keys, habitus photographs, illustrations of genitalia, external morphology, and a map of distribution.

Phylogeny of the tribe Naupactini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) based on morphological characters

Naupactini (Curculionidae: Entiminae) is a primarily Neotropical tribe of broad‐nosed weevils with its highest genus and species diversity in South America. Despite several taxonomic contributions published during the last decades, the evolutionary history of Naupactini remains poorly understood. We present the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis for this tribe based on a data matrix of 100 adult morphological characters scored for 70 species, representing 55 genera of Naupactini (ingroup) and four outgroups belonging to the entimine tribes Otiorhynchini, Entimini, Eustylini and Tanymecini. According to the most parsimonious tree Artipus does not belong to Naupactini; the genera with flat and broad antennae, formerly assigned to other entimine tribes, form a monophyletic group (Saurops (Curiades (Aptolemus (Platyomus)))) related to the clade (Megalostylus (Megalostylodes (Chamaelops Wagneriella))); and the genera distributed along the high Andes, Paramos and Puna form a natural group (Asymmathetes (Amphideritus (Leschenius (Amitrus (Obrieniolus (Melanocyphus Trichocyphus)))))), nested within a larger clade that includes Pantomorus, Naupactus and allied genera. Atrichonotus, Hoplopactus, Mimographus and Naupactus are not recovered as monophyletic. In order to address the taxonomic implications of our phylogenetic analysis, we propose the following nomenclatural changes: to transfer Artipus from Naupactini to Geonemini, to revalidate the genera Mimographopsis (type species M. viridicans), and to revalidate the genus Floresianus (type species F. sordidus). The evolution of selected characters is discussed.

Obrieniolus, a new monotypic genus of Naupactini (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Entiminae) from the Peruvian Andes and its phylogenetic placement

Abstract A new monotypic genus of Naupactini (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Obrieniolus del Río is described based on the new species Obrieniolus robustus del Río, endemic to Peru. This genus is easily recognized by the black, denuded and shiny integument, with imbricate microsculpture and the rounded body, with short, cordiform and moderately convex elytra. According to a cladistic analysis based on 69 continuous and discrete morphological characters, the new genus is the sister taxon of a group formed by Amitrus Schoenherr, Trichocyphus Heller, Amphideritus Schoenherr, Asymmathetes Wibmer & O’Brien and Galapaganus Lanteri. The paper includes habitus photographs, line drawings of genitalia, mouthparts, and other external features of taxonomic value, and a dichotomous key to the genera of Naupactini distributed in the South American Transition Zone.

The fate of endemic insects of the Andean region under the effect of global warming

Three independent but complementary lines of research have provided evidence for the recognition of refugia: paleontology, phylogeography and species distributional modelling (SDM). SDM assesses the ecological requirements of a species based on its known occurrences and enables its distribution to be projected on past climatological reconstructions. One advantage over the other two approaches is that it provides an explicit link to environment and geography, thereby enabling the analysis of a large number of taxa in the search for more general refugia patterns. We propose a methodology for using SDM to recognize biogeographical patterns of endemic insects from Southern South America. We built species distributional models for 59 insect species using Maxent. The species analyzed in the study have narrow niche breadth and were classified into four assemblages according to the ecoregion they inhabit. Models were built for the Late Pleistocene, Mid-Holocene and Present. Through the procedure developed for this study we used the models to recognize: Late Pleistocene refugia; areas with high species richness during all three periods; climatically constant areas (in situ refugia); consistent patterns among in situ refugia, Pleistocene refugia and current distribution of endemic species. We recognized two adjacent Pleistocene refugia with distinct climates; four in situ refugia, some of which are undergoing a process of fragmentation and retraction or enlargement. Interestingly, we found a congruent pattern among in situ refugia, Pleistocene refugia and endemic species. Our results seem to be consistent with the idea that long-term climate stability is known to have a key role in promoting persistence of biodiversity in an area. Our Pleistocene and in situ refugia are consistent with refugia identified in studies focusing on different taxa and applying other methodologies, showing that the method developed can be used to identify such areas and prove their importance for conservation.

Naupactus xanthographus (Germar) species group (Curculionidae: Entiminae: Naupactini): a comprehensive taxonomic treatment

ABSTRACT We undertake a taxonomic revision of Naupactus xanthographus (Germar 1824) (grape-fruit weevil) and the putative related species N. navicularis Boheman 1840, N. dissimilis Hustache 1947, N. mimicus Hustache 1938, N. dissimulator Boheman 1840 and N. marvaldiae new species. This species group mainly differs from other Naupactus by the presence of a pair of tubercles at the apex of the elytra. It ranges in Argentina, southern Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, in areas that belong to the biogeographic provinces of Atlantic, Araucaria and Paraná forests, Yungas, Chaco and Pampa. Naupactus xanthographus is broadly distributed in Argentina, mainly in the Pampean province, and it was introduced in central Chile, where it is considered a serious pest of grapes and several fruit trees. The remaining species are partially sympatric in the subtropical forests of southern Brazil, and N. dissimulator ranges along the gallery forests of Paraná and Uruguay rivers, down to La Plata River. It has been reported damaging citrus and ‘yerba mate’, like N. navicularis and N. dissimilis. The new species N. marvaldiae ranges in southern Brazil and north-eastern Argentina (Misiones), and differs from N. dissimulator, mainly by the very short elytra, the apical tubercles welldeveloped in males and females, the broader front femora, and the different shape of the apex of the penis. The other four species are probably more closely related and they separate from the pair N. dissimulator–N. marvaldiae because of the slightly widened front femora, well-developed corbels of the hind tibiae, and short to indistinct nodulus of the spermatheca. http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:051587DD-37C2-4216-AA61-0E563BB44D64

Taxonomic revision of the genus Stenocyphus Marshall (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) from Brazil

Abstract Stenocyphus Marshall, 1922 (Entiminae, Naupactini) includes three species: the type species S. bituberosus (Gyllenhal, 1833), S. tuberculatus (Hustache, 1938), comb. n. herein transferred from Neoericydeus Hustache, 1938, and S. sextuberosus sp. n. The genus is endemic to the Atlantic forests of the states of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, Brazil andis mainly characterized by the presence of humped elytra bearing large conical tubercles on the intervals 5, or 3 and 5, or 3, 5 and 7. It shares some external morphological characters with Hadropus Schoenherr, 1826 and the Brazilian species of Cyrtomon Schoenherr 1823, but its phylogenetic position is uncertain. Herein we provide a diagnostic key to separate Stenocyphus from those genera, generic and species redescriptions or descriptions, a key to species, habitus photographs, line drawings of genitalia, and a discussion of the patterns of elytral tubercles in unrelated genera of Neotropical broad-nosed weevils.