Two new species of the genus Mecyclothorax Sharp from New Guinea (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Psydrinae)

Baehr, Martin

doi:10.1163/22119434-900000258

Cited by 9 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Mecyclothorax beetles have radiated in other portions of the generic range, with the evolutionary products often represented by geographically restricted, precinctive species. Such radiations have been documented for the Queensland Alps of Australia (Baehr, 2003), the various massifs of Tahiti (Perrault, 1992) and the mountains of New Guinea (Baehr, 2008; Liebherr, 2008b). Brachyptery is prevalent among species in these radiations; indeed, all species of the Tahitian, New Guinean and Hawaiian Island radiations lack metathoracic flight wings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Taxonomic revision of the Mecyclothorax beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Oahu: epithets as epitaphs for an endangered fauna?

Liebherr

2009

Systematic Entomology

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Abstract. The Mecyclothorax Sharp beetle fauna of Oahu, Hawaii is revised, including the description of 13 new species—M. acherontius, M. uncinus, M. lobatus, M. dentatus, M. calceus, M. euryoides, M. invictus, M. ovatulus, M. lemur, M. satyrus, M. ramsdalei, M. pelops and M. niobespp.n.—to complement the six previously described species. Several cryptic species complexes characterized by similar external anatomy and highly divergent male genitalia are present in the fauna, including the M. brevis (Blackburn) species complex—four species sympatrically distributed on Tantalus, a mountain on the northern margin of Honolulu—and the sympatric sister species M. carteri (Perkins) and M. invictus from Mt. Kaala in the western Waianae Range. This repeated pattern of closely related species characterized by divergent male genitalia and relatively static external anatomy is also observed in the Mecyclothorax fauna of Molokai, an island of moderate geologic age within the Hawaiian archipelago, but not in the Mecyclothorax fauna of the most recently emergent Hawaii Island. Species distributions are generally also much more restricted on the older islands. These results are consistent with the occurrence of rampant, unfixed infraspecific genitalic variation early in an island radiation, with subsequent fixation of divergent genitalic characters occurring as speciation proceeds. Three distinct areas of endemism are defined by distributions of Oahu Mecyclothorax: the Waianae Range, the north Koolau Range and the south Koolau Range. Species distributions in two other carabid beetle genera in Hawaii containing native species—Blackburnia Sharp and Bembidion Latreille—congruently define these areas. The historical range of sampling dates is compared for Mecyclothorax species across the three areas, with the greatest diminution of recently collected species‐level diversity characterizing the south Koolau Range, where several Mecyclothorax species are characterized both by restricted geographic distributions within the developmental footprint of Honolulu, and by a lack of recent field collections, suggesting that they may qualify for endangered species status.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Taxonomic revision of the Mecyclothorax beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Oahu: epithets as epitaphs for an endangered fauna?

Liebherr

2009

Systematic Entomology

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“…7). Examination of illustrations of male genitalia for other New Guinean species (Baehr 1992(Baehr , 1995(Baehr , 1998(Baehr , 2002(Baehr , 2008(Baehr , 2014 indicates that the entire 22 species currently known from New Guinea belong to this subgenus. Phylogenetic placement of M. montivagus of Hawaii, and M. marau of Tahiti near M. punctipennis of Australia, the hypothesized colonist taxon for both the Hawaiian and Tahitian radiations (Liebherr 2013(Liebherr , 2015 indicates that these species appropriately act as surrogates for the entire 239 species of the Hawaiian Mecyclothorax radiation (Liebherr 2015) plus the 108 species comprising the Society Island radiation on Tahiti and Moorea (Liebherr 2012(Liebherr , 2013.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7). Comprehensive character analysis was possible only for species from Papua New Guinea (Liebherr 2017b), though this sampling viewed in light of the descriptions by Baehr (1992Baehr ( , 1995Baehr ( , 1998Baehr ( , 2002Baehr ( , 2008 supports an interpretation that the entire New Guinean Mecyclothorax fauna is assignable to this subgenus. The core of the subgenus Mecyclothorax radiation has produced propagules that have colonized the Greater Sunda Islands of Borneo and Java.…”

Section: Mecyclothorax Historical Biogeographymentioning

confidence: 86%

Cladistic classification of Mecyclothorax Sharp (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Moriomorphini) and taxonomic revision of the New Caledonian subgenus Phacothorax Jeannel

Liebherr¹

2018

DEZ

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The 15 species of Mecyclothorax Sharp precinctive to New Caledonia are revised and shown by cladistic analysis to comprise a monophyletic lineage, here treated as subgenus Phacothorax Jeannel. The New Caledonian species of subgenus Phacothorax include Mecyclothorax fleutiauxi (Jeannel), M. najtae Deuve, and 13 newly described species: M. jeanneli sp. n., M. laterobustus sp. n., M. laterorectus sp. n., M. laterosinuatus sp. n., M. laterovatulus sp. n., M. manautei sp. n., M. megalovatulus sp. n., M. octavius sp. n., M. paniensis sp. n., M. picdupinsensis sp. n., M. plurisetosus sp. n., and two jointly authored species; M. kanak Moore & Liebherr sp. n., and M. mouensis Moore & Liebherr sp. n.. Subgenus Phacothorax is one of five subgenera recognized within genus Mecyclothorax based on cladistic analysis of 65 exemplar taxa utilizing information from 137 morphological characters. The four other monophyletic subgenera include the precinctive Australian Eucyclothorax subgen. n. (type species Mecyclothorax blackburni [Sloane]), the precinctive Queensland Qecyclothorax subgen. n. (type species Mecyclothorax storeyi Moore), the precinctive New Zealand Meonochilus Liebherr & Marris status n., and the geographically widespread and very diverse nominate subgenus, distributed from St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands, eastward across Australia and New Guinea, and in the Sundas, Timor Leste, Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, New Zealand, and the Society and Hawaiian Islands. The biogeographic history of Mecyclothorax can be derived from the parsimony cladogram time-calibrated by times of origin of particular geographic areas inhabited by resident representative species. Based on sister-group status of subgenus Phacothorax and subgenus Mecyclothorax, and occupation of Lord Howe Island-an island originating no earlier than 6 Ma-by the earliest divergent lineage within subgenus Mecyclothorax, the ancestor of present-day Phacothorax spp. is hypothesized to have colonized New Caledonia 6 Ma, subsequent both to Cretaceous Gondwanan vicariance as well as any Oligocene submergence. Area relationships among the New Caledonian Phacothorax point to earliest diversification incorporating the northern massifs, and most recent diversification on the ultramafic volcanic substrates in the south of Grand Terre. Flight wing loss has played an important role in shaping the various island faunas, both in their morphology as well as their diversity. The retention of flight capability in only a few of the many hundred Mecyclothorax spp. is presented in light of how populations evolve from macropterous colonizing propagules to vestigially winged specialists. Interspecific differences in genitalic structures for the sister-species pair M. fleutiauxi + M. jeanneli are shown to involve functional complementarity of male and female structures. Extensive geographic variation of male genitalia is demonstrated for several New Caledonian Mecyclothorax spp. This variation deviates from the geographically uniform male genitalia exhibited by species in the hy...

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“…Within the subgenus Mecyclothorax, the vast majority of Australian Plate species evolved first in association with rainforest habitats in New Guinea ( Fig. 1A; Baehr 2014, Liebherr 2017, and subsequently following overwater dispersal to locales such as Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands (Moore 1985(Moore , 1992, Borneo (Baehr and Lorenz 1999), Java (Andrewes 1933, Louwerens 1949, 1953, Timor Leste Reid 2017), New Zealand (Liebherr andMarris 2009), and most recently the Hawaiian and Society Islands. The colonizing taxon founding the very diverse Hawaiian radiation occupied terrestrial grassland, based on sharing of this habitat preference by the very close relatives M. punctipennis and M. montivagus (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taxonomic review of Australian Mecyclothorax Sharp (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Moriomorphini) with special emphasis on the M. lophoides (Chaudoir) species complex

Liebherr¹

2018

DEZ

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The Australian fauna ofMecyclothoraxSharp (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Moriomorphini) is reviewed, with special focus on species assigned to the monophyletic subgenus Eucyclothorax Liebherr:M.isolatus,sp. n.from Western Australia,M.mooreiBaehr,M.punctatus(Sloane),M.curtus(Sloane),M.blackburni(Sloane);M.eyrensis(Blackburn);M.peryphoides(Blackburn);M.darlingtoni,sp. n.from Queensland;M.jameswalkeri,sp. n.from Western Australia;M.lophoides(Chaudoir); andM.cordicollis(Sloane). The last six species listed above–theM.lophoidesspecies complex–have been the source of long-term confusion for taxonomists, with male genitalic characters providing trouble-free species circumscription. One new subspecies,M.lewisensisestriatus,subsp. n.from Queensland is added to the seven previously described taxa of the monophyletic subgenus Qecyclothorax Liebherr. The balance of the fauna consists of four species in the subgenus Mecyclothorax:1and2, the sister-species pairM.lateralis(Castelnau) andM.minutus(Castelnau);3,M.ambiguus(Erichson); and4,M.punctipennis(MacLeay).Mecyclothoraxfortis(Blackburn),syn. n., is newly synonymized withM.minutus.MecyclothoraxovalisSloane is recombined asNeonomiusovalis(Sloane),comb. n., and a neotype is designated to replace the destroyed holotype. Phylogenetic relationships for the AustralianMecyclothoraxare proposed based on information from 68 terminal taxa and 139 morphological characters. The biogeographic history of AustralianMecyclothoraxis deduced based the sister-group relationship betweenMecyclothoraxand theAmblytelus-related genera, with both groups hypothesized to have originated during the late Eocene. Diversification withinMecyclothoraxhas occurred since then in montane rainforests of tropical Queensland, temperate forest biomes of the southwest and southeast, and in grasslands and riparian habitats adjacent and inland from those forests. Several species presently occupy interior desert regions, though no sister species mutually occupy such climatically harsh habitats. TheM.lophoidesspecies complex exhibits profound male genitalic diversification within the context of conserved external anatomy. This disparity is investigated with regard to the functional interaction of the male internal sac flagellum and female spermathecal duct. Though limited association of flagellar and spermathecal duct configurations can be documented, several factors complicate proposing a general evolutionary mechanism for the observed data. These include:1, the occurrence of derived, elongate spermathecal ducts in three species, two of which exhibit very long male flagella, whereas males of the third exhibit a very short flagellum; and2, a highly derived and exaggerated male flagellar configuration shared across a sister-species pair even though the two species can be robustly diagnosed using external anatomical characters, other significant genitalic differences involving male parameral setation, and biogeographic allopatry associated with differential occupation of desert versus forest biomes.

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Two new species of the genus Mecyclothorax Sharp from New Guinea (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Psydrinae)

Cited by 9 publications

References 8 publications

Taxonomic revision of the Mecyclothorax beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Oahu: epithets as epitaphs for an endangered fauna?

Taxonomic revision of the Mecyclothorax beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) of Oahu: epithets as epitaphs for an endangered fauna?

Cladistic classification of Mecyclothorax Sharp (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Moriomorphini) and taxonomic revision of the New Caledonian subgenus Phacothorax Jeannel

Taxonomic review of Australian Mecyclothorax Sharp (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Moriomorphini) with special emphasis on the M. lophoides (Chaudoir) species complex

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