Gisseth Ladino Peñuela Angie, Botero Juan Pablo, Lima da Silveira Luiz Felipe
Grupo de Investigación en Sistemática Molecular, Maestría en Ciencias-Entomología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Calle 59A No. 63-20, Medellín 050034, Colombia.
Grupo de Sistemática Molecular, Laboratorio de Entomología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Carrera 7 40-62, Bogotá 11001000, Colombia.
Insects. 2022 Aug 3;13(8):697. doi: 10.3390/insects13080697.
South America is likely the cradle of several New World firefly lineages but remains largely understudied. Despite several advances in firefly systematics in the Neotropical region, the Andean region has been largely unstudied for over a century. The Colombian Páramos are a critically threatened biodiversity hotspot that houses several endemic species, including the firefly genus , with two species- and . Here, by analyzing the phylogenetic relationships of , we found that this genus is polyphyletic. and were found to be distantly related despite the striking similarity in outline and color pattern of males and females. We redescribe and its type species . Moreover, we revalidate Kirsch, 1865 to accommodate , also redescribed here. We provide updated distribution maps and report field observations for both monotypic genera. Since adults visit flowers and interact with pollen and nectar, and may be occasional pollinators of Andean-endemic plants, a phenomenon previously neglected. Our findings reveal an interesting case of convergence between and -probably associated with life in the Páramos-and shed light on character evolution in the Photinini lineage of fireflies.
南美洲可能是几个新大陆萤火虫谱系的摇篮，但在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。尽管新热带地区萤火虫系统学有了一些进展，但安第斯地区在一个多世纪以来基本上未被研究。哥伦比亚的帕拉莫地区是一个受到严重威胁的生物多样性热点地区，有几种特有物种，包括萤火虫属，有两个物种 和 。在这里，通过分析 的系统发育关系，我们发现这个属是多系的。尽管雄性和雌性的外形和颜色模式惊人地相似，但 和 被发现关系较远。我们重新描述了 及其模式种 。此外，我们重新确认了1865年的 Kirsch，以容纳 ，这里也对其进行了重新描述。我们提供了更新的分布图，并报告了这两个单型属的实地观察情况。由于成虫会访问花朵并与花粉和花蜜相互作用， 和 可能是安第斯特有植物的偶然传粉者，这一现象此前被忽视。我们的发现揭示了 和 之间一个有趣的趋同案例——可能与帕拉莫地区的生活有关——并揭示了萤火虫萤光萤叶甲谱系中的特征进化。
