Cylindera lemniscata (LeConte, 1854), 2019

Duran, Daniel P. & Gough, Harlan M., 2019, Unifying systematics and taxonomy: Nomenclatural changes to Nearctic tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae) based on phylogenetics, morphology and life history, Insecta Mundi 2019 (727), pp. 1-12 : 7

Cylindera lemniscata (LeConte, 1854) , incertae sedis

This taxon has been the most difficult to place in the Nearctic fauna. In Vogler and Welsh (1997), C. lemniscata was the sister taxon to the only other sampled Cylindera in their study: C. celeripes . In two other studies ( Barraclough and Vogler 2002; Vogler et al. 2005), C. lemniscata was recovered in a clade of Microthylax species, a surprising result. Given the incongruency of these results, we extracted DNA from fresh specimens and sequenced three gene fragments (16S, COX3 and CytB), in addition to using the GenBank sequences. In our tree, C. lemniscata is contained within a large Nearctic endemic clade, positioned as sister to the Parvindela + ( Dromochorus + Ellipsoptera ) clade ( Fig. 1 ), a third result that is inconsistent with prior studies.

Morphologically, C. lemniscata appears most similar to Parvindela based on its small size, shape of the thorax, and full-length marginal lines that do not meet the elytral edge. However, this species is atypical for that genus in other respects; it has a polished shining dorsal surface, whereas all Parvindela have a dull texture; it lacks setae on the middle trochanters, a trait that it shares with Brasiella , although it does not resemble that group in any other way. Behaviorally, C. lemniscata shares an affinity for flying to lights at night with Ellipsoptera and Brasiella . No Parvindela species exhibit this behavioral trait.

It is possible that additional genes will further resolve the placement of C. lemniscata . If the results of our tree are upheld with larger datasets, a new genus would have to be erected to accommodate this taxon.

Figures

Figure 1. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic hypothesis for North American lineages Ellipsoptera, Dromochorus, Brasiella, and Cylindera. Maximum-likelihood phylogeny inferred in IQ-TREE based on three mitochondrial fragments (16S, COX3 and CytB). Taxon naming follows previous naming conventions with different colors highlighting new generic groupings we propose. * denotes the C. lemniscata specimen from GenBank and † denotes the chimera specimen.