Análise cladística de Rhinotorini (Diptera: Heleomyzidae) com base em caracteres morfológicos

Abstract

Rhinotorini (Diptera: Heleomyzidae), comprising eight genera and 45 species, has a combination of diagnostic characters - from the family itself - often variable and ambiguous among taxa, making difficult the use of phylogenetic methods, despite being considered likely a monophyletic grouping by McAlpine (1985). Thus, to understand the relationships between the Rhinotorini genera, a matrix containing 48 terminal taxa (internal group: 35; external group: 13) and 213 morphological characters (binary: 135; multistate: 78) was constructed. The analyzes of the data resulted in four equally parsimonious trees, with minimum step length (L) equal to 1064, consistency index (CI) of 31, and retention index (RI) of 70. Following, the strict consensus was obtained, differing in step length and consistency index (L: 1067; CI: 30). The analysis with implied weighting, with different concavity indexes (K), always resulted in a single more parsimonious tree (L: 1077-1065; CI: 30; IR: 70) with the number of clades similar to the trees obtained with equal weighting. Thus, the tribe grouping hypothesis is treated for the first time utilizing phylogenetic methods. In the strict consensus topology, the monophyly of Rhinotorini was corroborated with high support values, according to the Bremer index. At the cladogram base, Heleomyzidae is divided into two main clades, one composed mostly by representatives of the external group with Blaesochaetophora polita Malloch, 1933 being the most phylogenetically distant from the ingroup, and the other clade composed by Rhinotorinae with Nephellum dendrophilum Malloch, 1933 + Rhinotorini recovered as sister groups, corroborating the grouping hypothesis proposed by McAlpine (1985, 2007). In the internal topology of Rhinotorini three large groupings were found that corroborate the classification proposed by McAlpine (1985) who divided the tribe into three subtribes, now named (Cairnsimyiina subtribe nov. + (Anastomyzina subtribe nov. + (Rhinotorina))). Cairnsimyiina subtribe nov., is composed by the Australasian species Zentula McAlpine, 1985 + (Zinza Sinclair & McAlpine, 1995 + (Cairnsimyia Malloch, 1931)), appearing as sister group of the American species composed by Anastomyza Malloch, 1933 + (Apophoneura Malloch, 1933 + (Rhinotoroides Lopes, 1934 + (Neorhinotora Lopes, 1934 + Rhinotora Schiner, 1868))). In addition, a new species has been described, Neorhinotora elsalvadorensis sp. nov., a new geographic record of Anastomyza discalis Malloch, 1933 reported for Bolivia. With the addition of new characters, an identification key and diagnoses for the Rhinotorini genera were proposed.