Larrea-Meza SebastiÁn, Pinto Pablo, Collado Gonzalo A, ZÚÑiga-Reinoso Álvaro
Laboratorio de Ecología e Impactos Ambientales, Escuela de Biología Marina, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar y de Recursos Naturales, Universidad de Valparaíso, Avenida Borgoño 16344, Reñaca, Viña del Mar, Chile.
Zootaxa. 2020 Sep 1;4845(1):zootaxa.4845.1.8. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4845.1.8.
Psectrascelis is one of the most specious genus of darkling beetles of South America, comprising 82 species that inhabit arid and semiarid environments. The species are distributed mainly in Argentina and Chile. In general, the taxonomy of several species in this group has been difficult to approach. An example is Psectrascelis pilosa Solier and Psectrascelis conjugens Fairmaire, species morphologically similar which presents a rather poor original description and mislabelled. These species are distributed sympatrically in coastal terraces at the northern side of Huasco river, northern Chile. We collected several specimens of Psectrascelis on the southern side of Huasco river which are morphologically similar to P. pilosa. Morphological and genetic analysis support the description of the species Psectrascelis ammophila sp. nov., which is more closely related to Psectrascelis elongata and Psectrascelis pilipes specularis than other morphologically similar species (Psectrascelis pilosa and Psectrascelis conjugens). The importance of the Huasco river as barrier and the evolutionary convergence is discussed to explain the crypsis and the phylogenetic pattern found.
伪步甲属是南美洲拟步甲科中物种最为繁多的属之一，包含82个栖息于干旱和半干旱环境的物种。这些物种主要分布在阿根廷和智利。总体而言，该类群中几个物种的分类学研究一直颇具难度。例如，柔毛伪步甲（Psectrascelis pilosa Solier）和共轭伪步甲（Psectrascelis conjugens Fairmaire），这两个物种形态相似，但原始描述相当简略且标签有误。它们在智利北部瓦斯科河北侧的海岸阶地上同域分布。我们在瓦斯科河南侧采集到了一些形态与柔毛伪步甲相似的伪步甲标本。形态学和遗传学分析支持了新物种沙生伪步甲（Psectrascelis ammophila sp. nov.）的描述，该物种与长伪步甲（Psectrascelis elongata）和镜面伪足伪步甲（Psectrascelis pilipes specularis）的亲缘关系比其他形态相似的物种（柔毛伪步甲和共轭伪步甲）更近。文中讨论了瓦斯科河作为屏障的重要性以及进化趋同现象，以解释所发现的拟态和系统发育模式。
