Taxonomic review and phylogenetic analysis of fifteen North American Entomobrya (Collembola, Entomobryidae), including four new species

Abstract

The chaetotaxy of 15 species of eastern North American Entomobrya is redescribed in order to determine potential characters for the diagnosis of cryptic lineages and evaluate the diagnostic and phylogenetic utility of chaetotaxy. As a result, four new species (Entomobrya citrensis Katz & Soto-Adames, sp. n., Entomobrya jubata Katz & Soto-Adames, sp. n., Entomobrya neotenica Katz & Soto-Adames, sp. n. and Entomobrya unifasciata Katz & Soto-Adames, sp. n.) are described, and new diagnoses are provided for Entomobrya assuta Folsom, Entomobrya atrocincta Schött, Entomobrya decemfasciata (Packard), Entomobrya ligata Folsom, Entomobrya multifasciata (Tullberg), and Entomobrya quadrilineata (Bueker). Furthermore, previously undocumented levels of intraspecific variation in macrosetal pattern are reported, tempering the exclusive use of chaetotaxy for species delimitation. Phylogenetic relationships, estimated using both morphological and molecular data, indicate that Entomobrya is likely paraphyletic. The phylogenies also suggest that unreliable character homology, likely fostered by Entomobrya’s profusion of macrosetae, may limit the phylogenetic utility of chaetotaxy in groups characterized by an abundance of dorsal macrosetae.

The discovery of NeotropicalLepidosira(Collembola, Entomobryidae) and its systematic position

“…Lepidosira was recovered with high support as an ingroup of this subfamily, and as sister group to Lepidocyrtoides in a clade that is basal to the other Entomobryinae. Entomobrya and Willowsia were not recovered as monophyletic taxa, as seen in previous studies (Katz, Giordano, & Soto-Adames, 2015a, 2015bZhang et al, 2014Zhang et al, , 2016Zhang & Deharveng, 2015;Zhang, Ma, et al, 2017). Otherwise Homidia and Sinella appeared as natural groups, in agreement with all recent revisions to Homidia (Zhang et al, 2014(Zhang et al, , 2016Zhang & Deharveng, 2015;Zhang, Ma, et al, 2017), and most to Sinella (Zhang et al, 2014Zhang & Deharveng, 2015;Zhang, Ma, et al, 2017), but not all (Zhang et al, 2016).…”

Molecular phylogeny ofEntomobrya(Collembola: Entomobryidae) from China: Color pattern groups and multiple origins

“…Number of tergal macrochaetae in species of clade I is as few as type Figure 3B in Katz et al . (). Therefore, color patterns in Entomobrya are of great phylogenetic significance as tergal chaetotaxy.…”

“…Yosii () considered that Entomobrya ( Himalanura ) was possibly related to the scaled genera Janetschekbrya and Willowsia . Recent molecular analyses (Zhang et al ., , , ; Katz et al ., , b) did not support the monophyly of Entomobrya although sampling genera and species were limited, but indicated Entomobrya species were possibly related to Willowsia , Himalanura , Homidia and Entomobryoides . Known data implies the extremely complicated relationships within Entomobrya , as well as within Entomobryinae, which includes both scaled and unscaled genera (Zhang & Deharveng, ).…”

“…Jordana and Baquero (, ) did not encourage others to use color pattern in species identification due to its variation within populations and during postembryonic development. However, known molecular analyses mostly demonstrated that variable color forms coincided with separate genetic lineages, such as those in Isotomurus (Carapelli et al ., , ; Frati et al ., ), Orchesella (Frati et al ., , ), Lepidocyrtus (Soto‐Adames, ) and Entomobrya (Katz et al ., , b). Compared to its wide use for species delimitation and diagnosis, the phylogenetic values of coloration have been rarely explored.…”

“…Taxonomy of Entomobrya was mainly contributed by Christiansen (), South (), Stach (), Jordana & Baquero (), Jordana () and Katz et al . (, b). However, its monophyly and its relationships to other Entomobryinae genera are still controversial.…”