Systematics and biogeography of the Afrotropical flea beetle subgenus Blepharidina (Afroblepharida) Biondi & D’Alessandro, with description of seven new species (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

Abstract

A taxonomic revision of the species attributed to the subgenus Blepharidina (Afroblepharida) Biondi & D’Alessandro is provided. Seven new species are described: Blepharidina (Afroblepharida) afarensis sp. nov. and B. (A.) tajurensis sp. nov. from Djibouti; B. (A.) bantu sp. nov. from Kenya; B. (A.) benadiriensis sp. nov. from Somalia; B. (A.) nubiana sp. nov. from Sudan; B. (A.) pusilla sp. nov. from Ethiopia and Kenya; B. (A.) zephyra sp. nov. from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria. An updated catalogue, including material examined, distributions, chorotypes, and ecological notes, is supplied. The revision comprises a key to the eleven known species, habitus photos, and microscope and scanning electron micrographs of diagnostic characters, including the aedeagus and spermatheca. A phylogenetic analysis based on parsimony was provided. The strict consensus tree was used to put forward a preliminary biogeographical analysis of the taxon in the light of the current distribution of the species.

Habitat Specificity, Host Plants and Areas of Endemism for the Genera-Group Blepharida s.l. in the Afrotropical Region (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

“…The study area includes sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, and the Arabian Peninsula and its adjacent northern areas representing the northern limit of the distribution of the taxa considered here ( Figure 1 ). The datasets for the flea beetles Afroblepharida (69 occurrence localities), Blepharidina (162 occurrence localities), and Calotheca (797 occurrence localities), for a total of 61 species, were generated using both known localities and original data [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Data refer mainly to material preserved in the world’s main museums [ 17 ] and private collections and cover over a century.…”

“…For a long time, Blepharida Chevrolat, 1836 [ 12 ] has been considered a widespread flea beetle genus occurring in the Nearctic, Neotropical, and Afrotropical regions and, to a small extent, in the Palearctic region, with the species C. sacra reported in Israel [ 10 , 13 , 14 ]. Recently, the species from sub-Saharan Africa, Asia Minor, and the Arabian Peninsula were attributed to the genera Calotheca Heyden, 1887 [ 15 ] and Blepharidina Bechyné, 1968 [ 16 , 17 , 18 ], confining the distribution of the true Blepharida to the Nearctic and Neotropical regions.…”

“…str., hereafter Blepharidina , and Blepharidina (Afroblepharida) Biondi and D’Alessandro, 2017, hereafter Afroblepharida [ 17 ]. This genus occurs in the intertropical area of Africa with at least seventeen species of Blepharidina , mostly distributed in the south, and twelve species of Afroblepharida occurring largely in the central eastern area, including the Socotra island, with some species towards the north and one in the west [ 18 , 21 , 22 ]. The ranges of these two subgenera show an overlap in southern Kenya [ 8 , 17 ] ( Figure 1 ).…”

Ugandaltica gen. n., a tiny flea beetle from the forest canopy in Central Africa (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

“…There is a higher species richness of flea beetles in the tropics of the southern hemisphere, even though our knowledge about this tribe is still incomplete for many of these areas (Biondi and D’Alessandro 2010a, 2012, Nadein and Beždek 2014). Based on our current knowledge, the whole Afrotropical region, including Madagascar, hosts about 1600 known species, ascribed to 101 different genera (Biondi and D’Alessandro 2010a, 2010b, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, Döberl 2010, D’Alessandro et al 2014, 2016, 2017, Biondi et al 2017, Biondi personal data); and sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, hosts 85 flea beetle genera of which about 65% are endemic (Biondi and D’Alessandro 2010a, 2012, Biondi 2017, Biondi et al 2017). One of the most interesting, but still poorly and/or methodologically incorrectly investigated habitats is the forest canopy (Wagner 2000, Basset et al 2003a, 2003b, Furth et al 2003, Charles and Basset 2005, Davis et al 2011).…”

Hesperoides, a new “hairy” flea beetle genus from southern Africa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae, Galerucinae, Alticini)

“…The highest species richness occurs in the tropics of the southern hemisphere, even though our knowledge about this tribe is still uncomplete for those areas (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2010, 2012Nadein & Bezděk 2014). Based on recent contributions, the whole Afrotropical region, including Madagascar, hosts about 1600 known species ascribed to 101 different genera (Biondi personal data;Biondi & D'Alessandro 2010, 2012, 2013a, 2013b, 2017, 2018D'Alessandro et al 2014D'Alessandro et al , 2017Döberl 2010), and shares the highest percentage of genera with the Oriental (27%) and Palaearctic (27%) regions (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2012). In the sub-Saharan Africa occur 84 different flea beetle genera of which about 64% are endemic (Biondi & D'Alessandro 2010, 2012).…”