High diversity of Drosophilidae (Insecta, Diptera) in the Pampas Biome of South America, with descriptions of new Rhinoleucophenga species

Abstract

In the last three decades some faunal surveys of Drosophilidae have been done in several environments in the Neotropical region, especially in Brazil. But approximately 30 to 50% of the drosophilids in Brazil have not yet been described, and the degradation of some biomes causes a profound loss of species diversity, as well as the loss of information about the present structureof their communities. This is the situation with the pampas biome, which covers southernmost Brazil, all of Uruguay, and the central region of eastern Argentina. For the present study, seasonal collections were made in a natural area of pampas within the limits of the municipality of Bossoroca in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (28°45'01"S 54°56'55"W), from April 2011 to April 2012. A total of 7,164 drosophilids of 51 species were collected, comprising 36 species belonging to Drosophila Fallén, ten of Rhinoleucophenga Hendel, two of Amiota Loew, two of Zygothrica Wiedemann and one of Zaprionus Coquillett. Some species were recorded for the first time in pampas: Drosophila briegeri Pavan & Breuer, D. fuscolineata Duda, Rhinoleucophenga obesa (Loew), R. punctulata Duda, R. subradiata Duda and Zygothrica orbitalis (Sturtevant). Furthermore, three new species of genus Rhinoleucophenga were described: R. pampeana sp. nov., R. missionera sp. nov. and R. sulina sp. nov. A dichotomous key is given for the Rhinoleucophenga species recorded in pampas. An intensive literature search is reviewed of drosophilid species recorded in pampas of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, including taxonomic, genetic, evolutionary, and ecological studies. Despite Brazilian pampas being the richest when compared with Uruguay and Argentina, the three countries presented the same problem: huge areas with a barely surveyed Drosophilidae fauna. The combination of this information and the knowledge of the current state of preservation of pampas stress the necessity and importance of creating new conservation areas to preserve the natural biodiversity of pampas.Key words: Neotropical Region, systematics, biogeography, Drosophila, biodiversity inventory ResumenEn las últimas décadas algunos estudios faunísticos de Drosophilidae se hicieron en varios ambientes en el Neotrópico, especialmente en Brasil. Sin embargo, no se han descrito aproximadamente entre 30 a 50% de drosofílidos en el Brasil, y la degradación de algunos biomas provoca una profunda pérdida de la diversidad y la información acerca de la estructura de las comunidades. Esta es la situación del bioma pampa, que abarca parte del Brasil meridional, todo el Uruguay y la región centro-este de Argentina. En el presente estudio se presenta colectas estacionales en áreas naturales de pampas enclavadas dentro de los límites del municipio de Bossoroca en el estado de Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil (28°45'01"S POPPE ET AL.240 · Zootaxa 3779 (2)

Intra‐specific variability in Rhinoleucophenga punctulata populations (Diptera: Drosophilidae) from Neotropical biomes: Combined analyses of morphological and molecular data

“…The Pampa biome is characterized by a large oscillation of temperature, ranging from negative values during the winter up to 40°C during the summer, with the precipitation of ca. 1300 mm well distributed over the course of the year (Poppe et al ; Pillar & Lange ). The Amazon region is characterized by the constant high humidity due to annual precipitation of more than 1500 mm and distributed throughout the year, and an average annual temperature higher than 18°C (Nobre et al ).…”

“…One of the most widespread species of Rhinoleucophenga is R. punctulata Duda, , which is broadly found in open environments of South America, ranging from temperate to tropical regions, but apparently absent or rare in forest biomes (Vilela & Bächli ; Roque & Tidon ; Poppe et al ). However, recently Poppe et al () described R .…”

“…One of the most widespread species of Rhinoleucophenga is R. punctulata Duda, 1929, which is broadly found in open environments of South America, ranging from temperate to tropical regions, but apparently absent or rare in forest biomes (Vilela & Bächli 2009;Roque & Tidon 2013;Poppe et al 2014). However, recently Poppe et al (2015) described R. punctuloides Poppe et al, 2015, a sibling species to R. punctulata, recorded from the Pampa and Cerrado biomes, thus triggering the need to review the geographical records of the latter species.…”

Contribution of population-level phenotypic plasticity to the invasiveness of Zaprionus indianus (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

“…Since then, Z. indianus has been also detected in North and Central America (van der Linde et al, 2006;Castrezana, 2007Castrezana, , 2011Renkema et al, 2013;Joshi et al, 2014;Markow et al, 2014;Van Timmeren & Isaacs, 2014;Lasa & Tadeo, 2015;Holle et al, 2019). In South America it has been found in Ecuador (Acurio & Rafael, 2009), in many states of Brazil, both north and south from the initial point of detection (Castro & Valente, 2001;De Toni et al, 2001;Vilela et al, 2001;Santos et al, 2003;Tidon et al, 2003;Kato et al, 2004;Leao & Tidon, 2004;Chaves & Tidon, 2008;Furtado et al, 2009;Oliveira et al, 2009;Fernandes Rodrigues & Araújo, 2011;Pasini & Link, 2011;Ribeiro Barbosa et al, 2012;Poppe et al, 2014;Ferreira Mendes et al, 2017;Vasconcelos et al, 2017), and further south in Paraguay (Benítez Díaz, 2015), Uruguay (Goñi et al, 2001(Goñi et al, , 2002 and Argentina (Soto et al, 2006;Lavagnino et al, 2008). The most robust hypotheses about the introduction and subsequent spread of Z. indianus on the American continent points to human activity, more precisely fruit trade (Tidon et al, 2003;Galego & Carareto, 2007).…”

Contrasting levels of genotype by environment interaction for life history and morphological traits in invasive populations of Zaprionus indianus (Diptera: Drosophilidae)

“…Since the initial report of Z. indianus in Brazil, this species spread rapidly through South America (Commar et al, 2012), while the spread in Asia was slower since it took several decades for similar distances (Yassin et al, 2008). In the South America continent, Z. indianus has been found in five of the 12 countries of South America, the southernmost record being around a latitude of 34 degrees south (Castro & Valente, 2001;De Toni et al, 2001;Goñi et al, 2001;Vilela et al, 2001;Goñi et al, 2002;Santos et al, 2003;Tidon et al, 2003;Kato et al, 2004;Leao & Tidon, 2004;Soto et al, 2006;Chaves & Tidon, 2008;Lavagnino et al, 2008;Furtado et al, 2009;Oliveira et al, 2009;Fernandes Rodrigues & Araujo, 2011;Pasini & Link, 2011; Ribeiro Barbosa et al, 2012;Poppe et al, 2014;Benítez Díaz, 2015;Ferreira Mendes et al, 2017;Vasconcelos et al, 2017). It has also been detected in North and Central America (van der Linde et al, 2006;Castrezana, 2007;Castrezana, 2011;Renkema et al, 2013;Joshi et al, 2014;Markow et al, 2014;Van Timmeren & Isaacs, 2014;Lasa & Tadeo, 2015).…”