Taxonomic revision of the genus Machleida Fåhraeus, 1870 (Tenebrionidae, Pimeliinae, Asidini)

Abstract

The taxonomic concept of the genus Machleida Fåhraeus, 1870 is tested and revised based on newly identified material. The following new species are described: Machleida banachi, M. flagstaffensis, M. tarskii, and M. zofiae Kamiński. Machleida capillosa Wilke, 1925 is considered as a junior subjective synonym of Asida devia Péringuey, 1899. Asida lecta Péringuey, 1899 (= Pseudomachla recurva Wilke, 1925) (transferred to Afrasida), Machleida nossibiana Fairmaire, 1897 (transferred to Scotinesthes), and Machleida tuberosa Wilke, 1925 (interpreted as incertae sedis in Asidini) are excluded from Machleida. An identification key for the species of the newly revised Machleida is provided. The present paper brings the total number of species within the genus to six (M. banachisp. nov.; M. devia (Péringuey, 1899); M. flagstaffensissp. nov.; M. nodulosa Fåhraeus, 1870; M. tarskiisp. nov.; M. zofiae Kamiński sp. nov.). The morphology of female terminalia (ovipositor and genital tubes) is described for the genus for the first time.

Revision of the subgenus Mesopraocis Flores & Pizarro-Araya of the Neotropical genus Praocis Eschscholtz (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Pimeliinae)

“…The phylogenetic species concept of Wheeler and Platnick (2000) was employed to define a species as "the smallest aggregation of (sexual) populations or (asexual) lineages diagnosable by a unique combination of character states". It was used in recent taxonomic works (Smith 2013;Smith and Wirth 2016;Kamiński et al 2019). Species are diagnosed by the presence of autapomorphic morphological characters and/or a unique combination of homoplastic characters shared by all of the specimens assigned to a species (Smith and Wirth 2016).…”