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Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 belongs to the soft-bodied click-beetle tribe Drilini which contain species with a strong sexual dimorphism—while males are fully winged and able to fly, females are wingless and remain larviform. Malacogaster is known from the Mediterranean region,...

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Autores principales: Hoffmannova, Johana, Kundrata, Robin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9598140/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36290407
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11101503
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author Hoffmannova, Johana
Kundrata, Robin
author_facet Hoffmannova, Johana
Kundrata, Robin
author_sort Hoffmannova, Johana
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: The genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 belongs to the soft-bodied click-beetle tribe Drilini which contain species with a strong sexual dimorphism—while males are fully winged and able to fly, females are wingless and remain larviform. Malacogaster is known from the Mediterranean region, ranging from the Canary Islands and Iberian Peninsula on the west to Sicily and Libya on the east. In this study, we collated for the first time all information on this enigmatic click-beetle genus and all its species. We provide figures for all available name-bearing type specimens, redescribe species, and discuss their morphology, variability, and distribution. Although several species are readily recognizable based on the morphology and coloration, limits of some other species need further investigation including the DNA-based approach. ABSTRACT: The soft-bodied click-beetle genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 from the Mediterranean region has never been taxonomically revised to date. Information on its morphology, intra- and interspecific variability, systematics and distribution is fragmented and most species have not been properly studied since their description. Therefore, in this study we summarize all available information on the genus Malacogaster. Altogether, we recognize 10 valid species from the area including the Canary Islands, Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, northern coast of Africa, Sardinia, and Sicily. Malacogaster ruficollis Dodero, 1925, stat. nov., which was originally described as a variety of M. bassii Lucas, 1870 and later synonymized with it, is considered a separate species. Malacogaster parallelocollis Reitter, 1894, syn. nov. and M. olcesei var. reductus Pic, 1951, syn. nov. are synonymized with M. maculiventris Reitter, 1894. Malacogaster notativentris Pic, 1951, syn. nov. and M. olcesei Pic, 1951, syn. nov. are synonymized with M. passerinii Bassi, 1834. Lectotypes are designated for M. maculiventris Reitter, 1894, M. nigripes heydeni Reitter, 1894, M. parallelocollis Reitter, 1894, M. thoracica Redtenbacher, 1858, M. olcesei Pic, 1951, and M. rubripes Peyerimhoff, 1949 to fix their identity.
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spelling pubmed-95981402022-10-27 Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean Hoffmannova, Johana Kundrata, Robin Biology (Basel) Article SIMPLE SUMMARY: The genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 belongs to the soft-bodied click-beetle tribe Drilini which contain species with a strong sexual dimorphism—while males are fully winged and able to fly, females are wingless and remain larviform. Malacogaster is known from the Mediterranean region, ranging from the Canary Islands and Iberian Peninsula on the west to Sicily and Libya on the east. In this study, we collated for the first time all information on this enigmatic click-beetle genus and all its species. We provide figures for all available name-bearing type specimens, redescribe species, and discuss their morphology, variability, and distribution. Although several species are readily recognizable based on the morphology and coloration, limits of some other species need further investigation including the DNA-based approach. ABSTRACT: The soft-bodied click-beetle genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 from the Mediterranean region has never been taxonomically revised to date. Information on its morphology, intra- and interspecific variability, systematics and distribution is fragmented and most species have not been properly studied since their description. Therefore, in this study we summarize all available information on the genus Malacogaster. Altogether, we recognize 10 valid species from the area including the Canary Islands, Iberian Peninsula, Balearic Islands, northern coast of Africa, Sardinia, and Sicily. Malacogaster ruficollis Dodero, 1925, stat. nov., which was originally described as a variety of M. bassii Lucas, 1870 and later synonymized with it, is considered a separate species. Malacogaster parallelocollis Reitter, 1894, syn. nov. and M. olcesei var. reductus Pic, 1951, syn. nov. are synonymized with M. maculiventris Reitter, 1894. Malacogaster notativentris Pic, 1951, syn. nov. and M. olcesei Pic, 1951, syn. nov. are synonymized with M. passerinii Bassi, 1834. Lectotypes are designated for M. maculiventris Reitter, 1894, M. nigripes heydeni Reitter, 1894, M. parallelocollis Reitter, 1894, M. thoracica Redtenbacher, 1858, M. olcesei Pic, 1951, and M. rubripes Peyerimhoff, 1949 to fix their identity. MDPI 2022-10-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9598140/ /pubmed/36290407 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11101503 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Hoffmannova, Johana
Kundrata, Robin
Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean
title Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean
title_full Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean
title_fullStr Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean
title_full_unstemmed Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean
title_short Diversity of the Paedomorphic Snail-Eating Click-Beetle Genus Malacogaster Bassi, 1834 (Elateridae: Agrypninae: Drilini) in the Mediterranean
title_sort diversity of the paedomorphic snail-eating click-beetle genus malacogaster bassi, 1834 (elateridae: agrypninae: drilini) in the mediterranean
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9598140/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36290407
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biology11101503
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