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A New Termitophilous Rove Beetle from Brazil Suggests an Undersampling Scenario and Cospeciation between Termites and their Termitophiles in the Neotropical region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae)

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Abstract

Numerous staphylinid species can be found in termite nests. While the distributional range of termite hosts has been well studied, the same cannot be said for their associated fauna. There is a lack of comprehensive sampling even in areas where termite fauna has been well-sampled. In recent surveys in Southeastern Brazil, we collected a new species of termitophilous rove beetle from the tribe Termitohospitini (Aleocharinae): Termitosocius boraceiensis sp. nov., is herein described. The new species is the first termitophile found in Boracéia, SP, Brazil, even with decades of termite sampling in the place. Additionally, we discuss the diversity and description rate of neotropical Termitohospitini, and investigate the potential of cospeciation between termites and their termitophilous beetles on the Emerson-Kistner principle. Our findings suggest that the neotropical Termitohospitini may be more diverse than previously believed and that Termitosocius species are present in host species that are geographically separated, implying a cospeciation scenario. Additional sampling is required to fully comprehend the relationships between termitophiles and their termite hosts. The outcomes of this study provide new insights into the undersampling scenario and possibly cospeciation between termites and their termitophiles in the Neotropical region.

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Acknowledgements

CPS and BZ are extremely thankful to the colleagues of Laboratório de Coleoptera (LaC) of MZUSP for their valuable help during the expedition in Boracéia: Dr. Juares Fuhrmann, Dr. Letizia Migliore, Rafael Sousa, and Matheus Zorio. We would like to thank Dr. Munetoshi Maruyama for his careful reading of our work and feedback on the Emerson-Kistner principle discussion, and to the anonymous reviewers for the insightful suggestions. This work was partially funded by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brasil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001. CPS is funded under Grant 88887.639836/2021-00 and BZ, 88882.377147/2019-01. IE is supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) scholarship, number 140535/2022-5.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sistemática, Taxonomia Animal e Biodiversidade, LaC – Laboratório de Coleoptera, Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Carlos M. Pires-Silva & Bruno Zilberman

  2. Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Psicobiologia, LBC – Laboratório de Biologia Comportamental, Depto de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte, Natal, Brazil

    Igor Eloi

  3. Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Mauricio M. Rocha

Authors
  1. Carlos M. Pires-Silva
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  2. Bruno Zilberman
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  3. Igor Eloi
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  4. Mauricio M. Rocha
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Contributions

Conceptualization: Carlos M. Pires-Silva and Bruno Zilberman; Data Curation: Carlos M. Pires-Silva, Bruno Zilberman, Igor Eloi and Maurício M. Rocha; Formal Analysis: Igor Eloi; Writing – original draft preparation: Carlos M. Pires-Silva; Writing – review and editing: Carlos M. Pires-Silva, Bruno Zilberman, Igor Eloi and Mauricio M. Rocha.

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Correspondence to Carlos M. Pires-Silva.

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Pires-Silva, C.M., Zilberman, B., Eloi, I. et al. A New Termitophilous Rove Beetle from Brazil Suggests an Undersampling Scenario and Cospeciation between Termites and their Termitophiles in the Neotropical region (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Aleocharinae). Neotrop Entomol 52, 802–813 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13744-023-01063-z

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