A new, putatively semisubterranean, Rhithrodytes diving beetle from southwestern Sardinia (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)

Toledo Mario, Bilton David T., Balke Michael, Schizzerotto Antonio, Villastrigo Adrián
Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 63(1): 125-133, 2023
Published online: 6th May 2023
Views: 1499
Abstract: The diving beetle genus Rhithrodytes Bameul, 1989 is endemic to areas surrounding the Western Mediterranean Basin, and currently includes six lotic species; three each in Europe and North Africa. Here we describe a striking new species, Rhithrodytes pantaleonii sp. nov., discovered during recent fieldwork in southwestern Sardinia. The new species differs markedly from the only previously known Rhithrodytes from the Tyrrhenian Islands, R. sexguttatus (Aubé, 1838). The pale, flattened appearance of R. pantaleonii sp. nov., together with its small eyes and scarcity during collecting, all point to it being semisubterranean. A combination of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences, obtained non-destructively from the holotype, allow us to reconstruct the evolutionary history and historical biogeography of this taxon and take the opportunity to publish the mitogenome of the new species. Rhithrodytes pantaleonii sp. nov. is shown to be sister to R. sexguttatus, these taxa apparently having diverged during the Miocene, when the Sulcis-Iglesiente region of southwestern Sardinia was separated from the rest of Corsico-Sardinia by the Sardinian Seaway. Our discovery adds to our understanding of the biogeography of the Tyrrhenian Islands, and further highlights the importance of the Sulcis-Iglesiente region as an area of endemism in its own right.
Key words: Coleoptera, Dytiscidae, Hydroporini, diving beetle, new species, semisubterranean, endemic, phylogeny, historical biogeography, mitogenome, Europe, Palaearctic Region
Papers
Centenary of the journal Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis PragaeRevision of the plant bug genus Diognetus, with descriptions of thirteen new species from the Oriental and Eastern Palearctic Regions (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae)A review of the genus Platynectes from the Solomon Islands (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae: Agabinae)Review of the genus Cybister in China, with description of a new species from Guangdong (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)New species and new records of minute moss beetles from East Africa (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae)Taxonomy of the Lathrobium nomurai group (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) from Northern Kyushu, Japan, with descriptions of two new speciesA new, putatively semisubterranean, Rhithrodytes diving beetle from southwestern Sardinia (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)A revision of the genus Ivanauskiella (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae)Feabatrus gen. nov., a conspicuous new genus of Batrisitae from Myanmar and China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae)New and little-known species of the genus Cyclotoma from China (Coleoptera: Endomychidae)Definition of the tribe Metrodorini (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) with notes on biogeography and evolution of Metrodorinae and CladonotinaeRevision of the genus Allorhynchium in the Philippine Islands (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae)Two new micropterous species of the genus Sunius from Andalusia (Spain) (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Paederinae)Systematic study of the subgenus Aphantorhaphopsis of the genus Siphona in East Asia and the Oriental Region (Diptera: Tachinidae)