Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® Masters Theses & Specialist Projects Graduate School Summer 2017 Review of the Sub-Saharan Africa Species of Dignomus and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Bostrichoids (Coleoptera: Bostrichoidea: Ptinidae) Amelia LesBeth Smith Western Kentucky University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses Part of the Biology Commons, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, and the Entomology Commons Recommended Citation Smith, Amelia LesBeth, "Review of the Sub-Saharan Africa Species of Dignomus and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Bostrichoids (Coleoptera: Bostrichoidea: Ptinidae)" (2017). Masters Theses & Specialist Projects. Paper 2027. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/2027 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses & Specialist Projects by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REVIEW OF THE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA SPECIES OF DIGNOMUS AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE BOSTRICHOIDS (COLEOPTERA: BOSTRICHOIDEA: PTINIDAE) A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Biology Western Kentucky University Bowling Green, Kentucky In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science By Amelia LesBeth Smith August 2017 ___________________________________________ Dean, Graduate School Date I dedicate this thesis to my mother, Terry L. McDonald, my family, and friends. Thank you for your continual support and love. I also dedicate this thesis in memory of Dr. Rhonda Patterson. Thank you for all of the talks, laughs, love, and support. You helped make my Masters experience one that I will cherish forever and I will miss you dearly. A battle is better won when fought with an army, and my army is mighty. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to extend a massive thank you to Dr. Keith Philips, my advisor, for his support, encouragement, and continual guidance as an advisor and father figure. I would not be half the systematic entomologist or person I am today without his help and patience. I would also like to thank Dr. Glené Mynhardt, from the bottom of my heart, for introducing me to the mighty world of insects and starting me on a path that has changed my life. I literally would not have made it here without her. My deepest appreciation to Michael Thomas for help in creating the species distribution map (he great). I would also like to extend a hearty thank you to John Andersland for his assistance in the use of the Automontage® and guidance with the figure constructions, and Albert Meier and Scott Grubbs for their continued support and advice. iv CONTENTS DOCUMENTATION OF NEW SPECIES OF DIGNOMUS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA .............................................................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 1 MATERIALS AND METHODS .................................................................................................... 3 GENUS DIGNOMUS WOLLASTON, 1862 ................................................................................. 5 SPECIES DESCRIPTIONS.......................................................................................................... 8 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................ 43 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 48 PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF THE BOSTRICHOIDS .......................................... 50 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 50 MATERIALS AND METHODS .................................................................................................. 52 RESULTS ................................................................................................................................... 54 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................................ 59 APPENDIX A: ........................................................................................................................... 62 APPENDIX B: ........................................................................................................................... 74 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 107 v LIST OF FIGURES Fig 1. ................................................................................................................................... 2 Fig 2 .................................................................................................................................... 6 Fig 3 .................................................................................................................................... 7 Fig 4 .................................................................................................................................. 11 Fig 5 .................................................................................................................................. 13 Fig 6 .................................................................................................................................. 16 Fig 7 .................................................................................................................................. 20 Fig 9 .................................................................................................................................. 27 Fig 10 ................................................................................................................................ 29 Fig 11. ............................................................................................................................... 32 Fig 12 ................................................................................................................................ 35 Fig 13. ............................................................................................................................... 37 Fig 14 ................................................................................................................................ 40 Fig 15 ................................................................................................................................ 41 Fig 16 ................................................................................................................................ 42 Fig 17 ................................................................................................................................ 46 Fig 1.2. .............................................................................................................................. 55 Fig 2.2 ............................................................................................................................... 56 Fig 3.2 ............................................................................................................................... 57 Fig 4.2. .............................................................................................................................. 58 vi REVIEW OF THE SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA SPECIES OF DIGNOMUS AND PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF BOSTRICHOIDS (COLEOPTERA: BOSTRICHOIDEA: PTINIDAE) Amelia L. Smith August 2017 108 Pages Directed by: Keith Philips, Albert Meier, and Scott Grubbs Department of Biology Western Kentucky University Sub-Saharan Africa is home to nine described species of Dignomus Wollaston, 1862. Study and dissection of specimens has led me to the hypothesis that there are nine undocumented species in this region. Descriptions and images of the new species are presented and discussed, along with a compiled list of all described species from the Sub- Saharan region. The probable biology as geographic distributions for members of the genus are also given. Additionally, a phylogenetic analysis of 95 species of bostrichoids using CO1 molecular data was done with a focus on the origins of Dignomus and Pseudomezium. parsimony and bayesian analyses were run, the later providing evidence that Pseudomezium derived genus of Dignomus. Support was also found for a monophyletic Ptininae (i.e., the spider beetles) but not for the bostrichids, and anobiids. More data will be needed to clarify the relationships among the taxa of Bostrichoidea. vii DOCUMENTATION OF NEW SPECIES OF DIGNOMUS OF SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA INTRODUCTION Globally, the ptinids are comprised of over 70 genera and approximately 600 species (Smiley and Philips 2011). Of the many unique spider beetle taxa described from Sub-Saharan Africa, there are several undescribed that have yet to be described. Hence, they are not only diverse group, but also full of potential in regards to taxonomic descriptions as well as phylogenetic analyses. Dignomus, is one of the more well-known genera in some regions such as Europe, but not in Sub-Saharan Africa. Described in 1862, the genus Dignomus Wollaston was demoted to a subgenus of Ptinus by Pic (1912) but was later reestablished as a valid genus by Bellés (1982). There are currently 60 documented species in the African continent (Borowski 2000b). This