RESUMO

Encounters between flowers and invertebrates are key events for the functioning of tropical forests. Assessing the structure of networks composed of the interactions between those partners leads to a better understanding of ecosystem functioning and the effects of environmental factors on ecological processes. Gathering such data is, however, costly and time-consuming, especially in the highly diverse tropics. We aimed to provide a comprehensive repository of available flower-invertebrate interaction information for the Atlantic Forest, a South American tropical forest domain. Data were obtained from published works and "gray literature," such as theses and dissertations, as well as self-reports by co-authors. The data set has ~18,000 interaction records forming 482 networks, each containing between one and 1061 interaction links. Each network was sampled for about 200 h or less, with few exceptions. A total of 641 plant genera within 136 different families and 39 orders were reported, with the most abundant and rich families being Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae. Invertebrates interacting with these plants were all arthropods from 10 orders, 129 families, and 581 genera, comprising 2419 morphotypes (including 988 named species). Hymenoptera was the most abundant and diverse order, with at least six times more records than the second-ranked order (Lepidoptera). The complete data set shows Hymenoptera interacting with all plant orders and also shows Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera to be important nodes. Among plants, Asterales and Fabales had the highest number of interactions. The best sampled environment was forest (~8000 records), followed by pastures and crops. Savanna, grasslands, and urban environments (among others) were also reported, indicating a wide range of approaches dedicated to collecting flower-invertebrate interaction data in the Atlantic Forest domain. Nevertheless, most reported data were from forest understory or lower strata, indicating a knowledge gap about flower-invertebrate interactions at the canopy. Also, access to remote regions remains a limitation, generating sampling bias across the geographical range of the Atlantic Forest. Future studies in these continuous and hard-to-access forested areas will yield important new information regarding the interactions between flowers and invertebrates in the Atlantic Forest. There are no copyright restrictions on the data set. Please cite this data paper if the data are used in publications and teaching events.

Assuntos

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Detailed studies of microstructure have recently been shown to provide phylogenetic signals at several supraspecific levels within leiodid coleopterans, as well as in other insects. The tribe Ptomaphagini (Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with a Holarctic-Neotropical-Oriental distribution, has been characterized, among other things, by having a comb of equal-sized, flat spines around the apex of the tibiae of all legs, with a row of spines extending along the outer edge of the protibiae in the subtribes Baryodirina and Ptomaphaginina (but not in Ptomaphagina). A pattern similar to the one in Ptomaphaginina also occurs in the Neotropical cholevine tribe Eucatopini, and this has been used to indicate a phylogenetic relationship between the two tribes (but recent phylogenetic studies have not supported such a close relationship). We here review and revise the presence and structure of periapical (here called an apical crown) and marginal (here called an external comb) combs of spines on tibiae in Ptomaphagini, using other cholevines (with and without apical tibial combs) for comparison. We find a phylogenetic signal in an apical crown of tibial spines not interrupted at the outer spur, which seems to be an additional synapomorphy of Ptomaphagini, differing from the pattern in Eucatopini and remaining cholevines with an apical comb of spines, in which the comb is interrupted. We highlight differences not previously noticed between the apical protibial armature of Ptomaphaginina and Eucatopini.

Assuntos

RESUMO

Detailed studies of microstructure have recently been shown to provide phylogenetic signals at several supraspecific levels within leiodid coleopterans, as well as in other insects. The tribe Ptomaphagini (Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with a Holarctic-Neotropical-Oriental distribution, has been characterized, among other things, by having a comb of equal-sized, flat spines around the apex of the tibiae of all legs, with a row of spines extending along the outer edge of the protibiae in the subtribes Baryodirina and Ptomaphaginina (but not in Ptomaphagina). A pattern similar to the one in Ptomaphaginina also occurs in the Neotropical cholevine tribe Eucatopini, and this has been used to indicate a phylogenetic relationship between the two tribes (but recent phylogenetic studies have not supported such a close relationship). We here review and revise the presence and structure of periapical (here called an apical crown) and marginal (here called an external comb) combs of spines on tibiae in Ptomaphagini, using other cholevines (with and without apical tibial combs) for comparison. We find a phylogenetic signal in an apical crown of tibial spines not interrupted at the outer spur, which seems to be an additional synapomorphy of Ptomaphagini, differing from the pattern in Eucatopini and remaining cholevines with an apical comb of spines, in which the comb is interrupted. We highlight differences not previously noticed between the apical protibial armature of Ptomaphaginina and Eucatopini.(AU)

Assuntos

RESUMO

Abstract Detailed studies of microstructure have recently been shown to provide phylogenetic signals at several supraspecific levels within leiodid coleopterans, as well as in other insects. The tribe Ptomaphagini (Leiodidae: Cholevinae), with a Holarctic-Neotropical-Oriental distribution, has been characterized, among other things, by having a comb of equal-sized, flat spines around the apex of the tibiae of all legs, with a row of spines extending along the outer edge of the protibiae in the subtribes Baryodirina and Ptomaphaginina (but not in Ptomaphagina). A pattern similar to the one in Ptomaphaginina also occurs in the Neotropical cholevine tribe Eucatopini, and this has been used to indicate a phylogenetic relationship between the two tribes (but recent phylogenetic studies have not supported such a close relationship). We here review and revise the presence and structure of periapical (here called an apical crown) and marginal (here called an external comb) combs of spines on tibiae in Ptomaphagini, using other cholevines (with and without apical tibial combs) for comparison. We find a phylogenetic signal in an apical crown of tibial spines not interrupted at the outer spur, which seems to be an additional synapomorphy of Ptomaphagini, differing from the pattern in Eucatopini and remaining cholevines with an apical comb of spines, in which the comb is interrupted. We highlight differences not previously noticed between the apical protibial armature of Ptomaphaginina and Eucatopini.

RESUMO

The current state of knowledge of the suprageneric relationships in Cholevinae is either derived from informal evaluations of putative synapomorphies or based on molecular studies with limited taxonomic sampling. Here we assessed the higher-level relationships in this subfamily based on a phylogenetic analysis of 97 morphological characters scored for 93 terminals, representing all tribes. Both parsimony and Bayesian analyses were used. The monophyletic origin of Cholevinae was corroborated, except for the unexpected inclusion of Leptinus in the implied weighting analysis. Eucatopini + Oritocatopini were retrieved as basal branches in the evolution of Cholevinae. The monophyletic origin of all remaining Cholevinae was confirmed, which is consistent with molecular evidence. Anemadini was non-monophyletic, in accordance with earlier hypotheses. Cholevini was rendered non-monophyletic by the uncertain inclusion of Prionochaeta and the consistent exclusion of Cholevinus. A close affinity of Ptomaphagini to Sciaphyini and Leptodirini was suggested, although the position of Sciaphyes remains uncertain. The phylogenetic hypothesis of Cholevinae provided here is the most comprehensive presently available. The list of characters shows that a substantial part of the data was obtained from the ventral side. This is a strong argument for a detailed pictorial documentation of the ventral body parts in taxonomic descriptions, in contrast to the common practice of only illustrating the dorsal habitus of the beetles.

RESUMO

We analysed pretarsal characters of 87 species of Leiodidae (including 10 cholevines and representatives of all tribes and ca. 60% of the genera of non-cholevines), five species of Agyrtidae, and nine representatives of outgroup taxa (Hydraenidae, Staphylinidae, Hydrophilidae, and Histeridae) using scanning electron microscopy. We focused our observations on the architecture of the empodium (including the sclerites and associated setae), the shape and composition of the medial projection of the distal margin of the terminal tarsomere, and the armature of the claws, which were considered a promising source of information for delimiting supraspecific taxa in our previous study. We identified several diagnostic features and recognize potential synapomorphies at the tribal, subtribal and generic levels. The internal systematic arrangement and/or even the monophyletic status of most of the subfamilies of Leiodidae (Camiarinae, Catopocerinae, Leiodinae, and Platypsyllinae) are challenged. We identified potential synapomorphies for Camiarinae (Camiarini and Agyrtodini) and Leiodinae. The non-monophyly of Cholevinae is possible because part of the tribe (Anemadini, Eucatopini, and Oritocatopini) shares potentially apomorphic features with Leiodinae (e.g., a triangular medial projection with a diagonal row of conical spines), whereas another part (Leptodirini and Ptomaphagini) shares a potentially apomorphic feature with Coloninae and Platypsyllinae (a typical medial projection with two distinct triangular projections).

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The Neotropical obligate fungivorous beetle Ceracis cucullatus (Mellié) has attracted attention of coleopterists due to the increasing number of records of populations in Africa. Although its disjunct populations have been interpreted as a cohesive taxonomic unity, previous comparisons between African and Neotropical specimens revealed differences in their external morphology, causing uncertainty about the true unity of the species. Here, we compare the external morphology of specimens named Cer. cucullatus from several localities of the Neotropical, Palearctic, Afrotropical, Afrotemperate and Oriental regions. As results, we reverse three previous junior synonymies of Cer. cucullatus, proposing Cer. lamellatus (Pic) and Cer. tabellifer (Mellié), both reinstated status and new combinations, as separate species. We also propose Enn. bilamellatum Pic as a new synonym of Cer. tabellifer. In face of these taxonomic changes, we identify Cer. tabellifer as the actual invasive species on African lands, instead of Cer. cucullatus as was previously accepted. Then, through historical records gathered from scientific collections and literature, and through examination of recently collected specimens from South Africa and Brazil, we provide data on host fungi and geographic distribution of Cer. tabellifer. Based on these data, we discuss possible explanations to the successful invasion of Cer. tabellifer in Africa and elsewhere and its potential threat to native faunas of ciids. This study helps to fulfil an old gap in the literature on biological invasions, with considerably more studies on predatory species, disease vectors or potential pests of agricultural crops, than on non-pest fungivorous organisms.

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Grossicis gen. nov. is described based on G. diadematus (Mellié, 1849) comb. nov., the type species, and G. laminicornis sp. nov. from Brazil. Diagnostic characters of the genus include the apical maxillary palpomere abruptly expanded with sensilla distributed along the apical margin, dual elytral punctation, elytral sutural flange diverging near apex, prosternum carinate, protibial apex bearing a row of spines and outer apical angle with a conspicuous tooth, ovipositor bearing well developed gonostyli with almost half the length of gonocoxites, baculum of each proximal gonocoxite oblique, and anterior apex of each paraproctal baculum contiguous and joined to each proctigeral baculum, their limits being barely discernible, forming an arc anteriorly. Comparisons were made with other 37 ciid genera, and the new genus is provisionally placed in Ciini. A key to species of Grossicis gen. nov. is provided, together with the description of external morphology of adults, as well as the morphology of male and female terminalia of both species.

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Two new Neotropical species of Ceracis Mellié are described: Ceracis cassumbensis Antunes-Carvalho & Lopes-Andrade, sp. n. from a single locality in northeastern Brazil and Ceracis navarretei Antunes-Carvalho & Lopes-Andrade, sp. n. from a single locality in southern Mexico. Scanning Electron Microscope images of adults and photographs of holotypes and male terminalia are provided for both species, their similarities and differences with other Ceracis are briefly discussed, and the cucullatus species-group is redefined for including the new species described herein.