Redescriptions, Lectotype Designations, New Synonyms and New Geographic Records for the “Tiger” Species of Mycotretus Lacordaire, 1842 (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Tritomini)

Abstract

The Neotropical Mycotretus Lacordaire, 1842 is one of the largest and most widespread genera of the Erotylidae, encompassing more than 200 described species. Among the species with a similar body coloration, there is a “group” of six valid species—called here the “tiger” Mycotretus—that possess several pronotal and elytral black spots, as follows: M. tigrinus (Olivier, 1792); M. multimaculatus Taschenberg, 1870; M. centralis Arrow, 1909; M. tigrinoides Mader, 1942; M. tigripennis Mader, 1942; and M. prioteloides Mader, 1942. Different from any other Mycotretus with spots, the spots of the “tiger” Mycotretus are numerous and are not bilaterally symmetrical in pattern. Here, new geographical records, diagnoses and redescriptions are provided for M. tigrinus, M. centralis, M. tigrinoides, M. tigripennis and M. prioteloides, including the first descriptions of their male and female terminalia. Lectotypes are designated for M. multimaculatus, M. centralis, and M. leopardus. Mycotretus multimaculatus and M. tigrinus pardalis Crotch, 1876 are proposed as new junior synonyms of M. tigrinus. Additionally, the authorship of the name M. leopardus is attributed to Crotch, 1876, because he was the first author to provide a description for that taxon, and the synonymy of M. leopardus and M. conspersus (Germar, 1824) with M. tigrinus (Olivier, 1792) is confirmed.

Revision of Distictus Townes, 1966 (Hymenoptera, Ichneumonidae, Cryptinae), with descriptions of ten new species

“…According to Pecci-Maddalena & Lopes-Andrade (2018), the common but elusive denomination "Reprêsa Rio Grande" (Brazil), here found on the labels of some D. ateles sp. nov. (including the holotype), was given to only one of several streams dammed at the time, and currently is part of the set of reservoirs of the 'Ribeirão das Lajes' dam, and its whole area is an ecological reserve.…”

Catalogue of Mycotretus Lacordaire, 1842 (Coleoptera: Erotylidae: Tritomini): an annotated, illustrated and historical approach

“…The genus is mostly Neotropical and is the second most speciose within Erotylidae Latreille, 1802, after Iphiclus Chevrolat, 1836 with more than 300 described species . Both larval and adult individuals of Mycotretus feed on basidiomycete fungi, although data on host fungi are scarce and records are too few to discuss host fungus specialization (Pecci-Maddalena & Lopes-Andrade 2018b). Despite the lack of phylogenetic and revisionary works, morphological and molecular evidence suggest that Mycotretus is not a monophyletic group and should be divided to form natural genera (Robertson et al 2004;Pecci-Maddalena et al 2021a.…”