Michel Perreau

Virtual dissection using phase‐contrast X‐ray synchrotron microtomography: reducing the gap between fossils and extant species

Fossils provide excellent opportunities for bringing to light evolutionary trends, and testing phylogenetic hypotheses. However, the difficulty in accessing internal structures limits the provision of accurate descriptions, and thus limits the comparison of fossil specimens with extant fauna. The virtual dissection of amber fossils by propagation phase‐contrast X‐ray synchrotron microtomography (PPC‐SRµCT) allows incomparable possibilities for the visualization of genital structures, which are of prime importance in assessing the taxonomic status and phylogenetic relationships in many groups of insects. The method is illustrated on one new species of Coleoptera Leiodidae Anemadini in Baltic amber: Nemadus microtomographicussp.n.

Nouveaux Ptomaphagini et Anemadini souterrains, dont la première espèce anophtalme d’ Anemadus (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae)

Résumé Dans cet article sont décrites six espèces de Ptomaphaminus d’Asie du sud-est et des îles de la Sonde, une espèce de Ptomaphagus du Guatemala et une espèce d’Anemadus de Chine. Toutes ces espèces ont été récoltées dans des cavités où dans le milieu endogé et présentent à divers degrés une adaptation morphologique au milieu souterrain. La nouvelle espèce d’Anemadus est la première espèce totalement anophtalme du genre.

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from Taiwan Island

Abstract Ptomaphagus (s. str.) chenggongi sp. n. and Ptomaphagus (s. str.) tingtingae sp. n. (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini) are described from Taiwan Island. In addition, a new subjective synonym is proposed, Ptomaphagus (s. str.) yasutoshii Nishikawa, 1993 = Ptomaphagus (s. str.) smetanai Perreau, 1996, syn. n. Relevant morphological characters of the examined Ptomaphagus species are illustrated with colour plates, and their known distributions are mapped.

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from Japan

Abstract After examining Japanese material of Ptomaphagus Hellwig from various collections, a new species is described, Ptomaphagus (s. str.) piccoloi sp. n., and a new subjective synonym proposed, Ptomaphagus (s. str.) kuntzeni Sokolowski, 1957 = Ptomaphagus (s. str.) amamianus Nakane, 1963, syn. n., in this paper. Relevant morphological characters of examined species of Ptomaphagus are illustrated with colour plates, and known distributions are mapped.

A second species of the genus Sciaphyes (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Sciaphyini) from Japan

Abstract A second species of the genus Sciaphyes Jeannel is reported from Japan. The new species, S. kawaharai sp. n., can be easily distinguished from other Japanese Cholevine by the lack of eyes and hind wings. S. kawaharai sp. n. was collected in the nests of lesser white-toothed Shrew, Crocidura suaveolens (Pallas 1811) (Insectivora: Soricidae), therefore its habitat is pholeophile.

Comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the Anthroherpon radiation (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Leptodirini)

The genus Anthroherpon Reitter, 1889 exhibits the most pronounced troglomorphic characters among Coleoptera, and represents one of the most spectacular radiations of subterranean beetles. However, radiation, diversification, and biogeography of this genus have never been studied in a phylogenetic context. This study provides a comprehensive evolutionary analysis of the Anthroherpon radiation, using a dated molecular phylogeny as a framework for understanding Anthroherpon diversification, reconstructing the ancestral range, and exploring troglomorphic diversity. Based on 16 species and 22 subspecies, i.e. the majority of Anthroherpon diversity, we reconstructed the phylogeny using Bayesian analysis of six loci, both mitochondrial and nuclear, comprising a total of 4143 nucleotides. In parallel, a morphometric analysis was carried out with 79 landmarks on the body that were subjected to geometric morphometrics. We optimized morphometric features to phylogeny, in order to recognize the way troglomorphy was expressed in different clades of the tree, and did character evolution analyses. Finally, we reconstructed the ancestral range of the genus using BioGeoBEARS. Besides further elucidating the suprageneric classification of the East-Mediterranean Leptodirini, our main findings also show that Anthroherpon dates back to the Early Miocene (ca. 22 MYA) and that the genus diversified entirely underground. Biogeographic reconstruction of the ancestral range shows the origin of the genus in the area comprising three high mountains in western Montenegro, which is in the accordance with the available data on the paleogeography of the Balkan Peninsula. Character evolution analysis indicates that troglomorphic morphometric traits in Anthroherpon mostly evolve neutrally but may diverge adaptively under syntopic competition.

Revision of the genus Ptomaphagus Hellwig (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae) from the Russian Far East and the Korean Peninsula

Abstract The conundrum of Ptomaphagus (s. str.) sibiricus Jeannel, 1934 (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini) is solved, and it is redescribed and newly recorded in South Korea. A new species is also described from the Russian Far East: Ptomaphagus (s. str.) hayashii sp. n. Relevant morphological characters of the concerned species are illustrated with colour plates, and their known distributions are mapped.

One new species of Ptomaphaminus Perreau, 2000 (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Ptomaphagini) from a granitic subterranean environment in Vietnam.

Ptomaphaminus granophilus n. sp. from Vietnam is described and illustrated. The special subterranean biotope of this species, deep interstices in a granitic blockfield, is emphasized.

A review of the Cholevinae from the island of Borneo (Coleoptera, Leiodidae)

Abstract The available knowledge of the round fungus beetle subfamily Cholevinae (Leiodidae) from the island of Borneo is reviewed, and the results of newly studied material presented. The currently known 30 species (of which 14 are newly described herein) represent the genera Micronemadus (one species), Catops (one species), Baryodirus (one species), Ptomaphaginus (14 species), and Ptomaphaminus (13 species). The following new species are described: Micronemadussondaicus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., Ptomaphaginusgrandis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.louis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.muluensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., and P.isabellarossellini Schilthuizen, Njunjić & Perreau, sp. n., and Ptomaphaminuskinabatanganensis Njunjić, Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.testaceus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.nanus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.marshalli Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.hanskii Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.sarawacensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.layangensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., P.microphallus Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n., and P.alabensis Schilthuizen & Perreau, sp. n. It is expected that the cholevine biodiversity of Borneo is still far from completely known. Nonetheless, provisional identification keys to all species known so far are presented.

Ptomaphaginus troglodytes sp. n., the first anophthalmic species of Ptomaphaginina from China (Coleoptera, Leiodidae, Cholevinae, Ptomaphagini)

Abstract Ptomaphaginus troglodytes sp. n., the first anophthalmic species of Ptomaphaginus Portevin, 1914 is described from two close caves in Libo Karst, south Guizhou Province, China.