Pedro Reyes-Castillo

Phylogeny, biogeography and description of Ameripassalus, a new Mesoamerican genus of Passalidae (Coleoptera)

Abstract. Ameripassalus, gen. nov., is described as the first genus of Passalini with a distribution restricted to Mesoamerica. The species include A. guatemalensis (Kaup, 1869), comb. nov. from Passalus Fabricius, A. difficilis, sp. nov. and A. tamaulipensis, sp. nov. from Mexico, and A. jacki, sp. nov. and A. nigritus, sp. nov. from Guatemala. A matrix of 46 morphological characters, including the species from Ameripassalus, gen. nov. and 13 species of the genera Paxillus MacLeay, Ptichopus Kaup, Heliscus Zang, Veturius Kaup, Spasalus Kaup, Passipassalus Fonseca & Reyes-Castillo, Passalus Fabricius and Leptaulax Kaup were analysed. Only a single most parsimonious tree was found; in this Ameripassalus is retrieved as a monophyletic group. Ameripassalus difficilis, sp. nov. is shown as the sister group of the rest of the species in the genus. The species with the southernmost distribution (A. guatemalensis (A. nigritus, sp. nov. + A. jacki, sp. nov.)) form a nested clade within the species with the northernmost distribution. Keys to identify adults of the genera of Passalini and to the species of Ameripassalus are provided.

The classic theory of Mexican Transition Zone revisited: the distributional congruence patterns of Passalidae (Coleoptera)

Abstract. We incorporated new data to re-evaluate the biogeographical patterns in the Mexican Transition Zone (MTZ) through the recognition of congruence in the geographic distributions of Mexican passalids (Coleoptera : Passalidae). We used three different approaches to parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE): (1) the use of specific distribution data; (2) the application of a null model of significant co-occurrence to the specific distribution data; and (3) the use of predicted potential distributions through ecological niche modelling. Overall, these approaches sharpened the delimitation of distributions in three general zones. General zone (GZone) 1 includes species of restricted distribution in the state of Chiapas; the grid cells that make up this zone lie mainly in the Chiapas biogeographical province. GZone 2 includes species of restricted distribution located mainly in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo and Queretaro; the grid cells of this zone lie mainly in the Sierra Madre Oriental province. GZone 3 includes species with restricted distribution occurring mainly in the states of Guerrero and Oaxaca; the grid cells of this zone lie mainly in the Sierra Madre del Sur biogeographical province. The patterns of distributional congruence found in this study revealed three important distributional zones for the passalid species within the MTZ highly coincident with patterns proposed by Halffter.

Phylogeny and Taxonomy of Paxillus MacLeay and Passipassalus Reyes-Castillo and Fonseca (Coleoptera: Passalidae: Passalini), with the Description of New Species

ABSTRACT The first phylogenetic analysis of the genera Passipassalus and Paxillus is presented. We studied all species of these two genera, including Passipassalus nukak sp. nov., Paxillus amati sp. nov., Paxillus inca sp. nov., Paxillus martinezi sp. nov., and Paxillus akatanga sp. nov. A morphological matrix with 40 characters was analyzed employing maximum parsimony. Nine species from other genera of Passalini (Ameripassalus, Passalus, Spasalus, and Ptichopus) were included. A single most-parsimonious tree was found with three polytomies caused by collapsing zero-length branches. Two species of Paxillus were grouped with Passipassalus buhrnheimi Fonseca and Reyes-Castillo (Passipassalus macrocerus (Reyes-Castillo and Fonseca) n. comb. and Passipassalus corniculatus (Fonseca, Gouveia and Fernandez) n. comb.). The remaining species of Paxillus constitute a monophyletic group divided in two clades that we called the Leachi and Forsteri species groups. The transfer of two species from Paxillus to Passipassalus makes mandatory the redescription and redelimitation of these two genera. Likewise, reviewing the morphological characters, we found that the lacinia, a traditional character employed to delimit Paxillus, is bidentate in all species of Forsteri group. Our results suggest an early separation of the ancestors of Paxillus and Passipassalus within Passalini, and agree with observations by other authors about the paleoendemism of Paxillus in the Greater Antilles.

Passalidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) of the Greater and Lesser Antilles

We present a synthesis of the state of knowledge concerning the species of Passalidae (Coleoptera) of the West Indies and we present a key to the species. The recently described genus Antillanax Boucher renders the subgenus Passalus (Pertinax) Kaup paraphyletic, therefore we place Antillanax in synonymy with Passalus (Pertinax) and we propose a new combination for Passalus (Pertinax) doesburgi (Boucher). The island richest in species is Hispaniola, with five species, three of them endemic. Excluding Trinidad and Tobago, the passalid fauna of the West Indies comprises 13 species; this is low richness, but with high endemism (50%), especially for the Greater Antilles.

Passalidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) of the Biogeographical Province of Chocó and the West Andean Region of Colombia, with the Description of Two New Species

We present a synopsis of the Passalidae of the Chocó biogeographical province and the western slopes of the Western Andean range of Colombia as a result of field collections, examination of entomological collections, and review of the literature. We record a total of 41 species, provide an identification key, and, for the 39 species for which we were able to examine specimens, include a diagnosis and collecting data. Two new species of Passalus (Pertinax) are described and illustrated. The species of this region compose 42% of the passalid species known for Colombia. The richness of species and the high degree of endemism (34%) indicate the faunistic importance of this area, which is closely related to the fauna of lowland Central America.

Passipassalus brevicornis n. sp.: a New Passalidae (Coleoptera) from Brazilian Amazonian, with a Key to the Species of Passipassalus Reyes-Castillo & Fonseca.

Passipassalus brevicornis n. sp. is described from two specimens from Tefé and Coari, Amazonas, Brazil. This species represents the fifth species recognized of Passipassalus and differs from the other species of the genus mainly by having an apex of central tubercle of median frontal structure not free, frontal fossae with some scarce setae, metasternal fossae with scarce setae, humeri fully pubescent, and marginal groove over anterior ventral edge of femur I marked and complete. Additionally, a key to the species of Passipassalus is given.