Systematic revision of the army ant-symbiont beetle genus Vatesus Sharp, 1876 (Staphylinidae: Tachyporinae: Vatesini) based on a multidisciplinary approach

基于多学科方法对军蚁共生甲虫属 Vatesus Sharp, 1876（葡萄球菌科：Tachyporinae：Vatesini）进行系统修订

• 批准号: 310785848
• 负责人: Dr. Christoph von Beeren, Ph.D.
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Arbeitsgruppe Ecological Networks
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2015-12-31 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/310785848?language=en
• 关键词: Systematic; revision; army; ant; symbiont

Army ants are the top arthropod predators in tropical ecosystems. Besides their pivotal role as predators, a diverse fauna of animals, ranging from ant birds to arthropod symbionts, depends on the presence of army ants. For instance, several hundred species are obligate associates of the swarm-raiding army ant Eciton burchellii. The faunistic diversity of army ant guests entails major deficiencies in species identifications, mainly because the taxonomy of symbiont groups has remained untouched for decades. Notable among these groups are one of the most abundant and charismatic taxa: rove beetles of the genus Vatesus Sharp, 1876. The genus consists of 26 species. Their taxonomy has remained untouched since the latest revisions in the 1950s and 1960s. By modern standards, historical Vatesus species descriptions lack sufficient detail to capture phenotypic variation so that species identifications of Vatesus are problematic. Crucially, genitalia descriptions, which provide essential characters for beetle taxonomy, are missing for all but two species. The shaky taxonomy thus creates a serious impediment to any kind of research on these beetles. In the last years, I have compiled an extraordinary collection of Vatesus beetles, consisting of more than 1,600 specimens and at least 10 distinct species. Additionally, numerous museums have additionally accrued a huge number of specimens. Collectively, these collection efforts sum up to several thousand specimens covering a broad geographic area. Based on these remarkable collections and support of museums, it is my goal to achieve a modern systematic revision of Vatesus. The revision will be based on a multidisciplinary approach by combining the analyses of morphological characters and genetic loci (COI, wg, CAD). Clustering of genetic data will unveil possible candidate species. Representatives of each candidate species and all holotypes will then be scanned using synchrotron-generated X-ray microtomography (SRµCT), allowing for qualitative and quantitative analyses of beetles’ external and internal morphology. Importantly, using SRµCT I will analyze male and female genitalia without the need of specimen dissections, i.e. type material stays intact. Molecular and morphological data will be analyzed synergistically with the goal of robustly uncovering species boundaries and defining them based on anatomy. This integrative approach will provide a rigorous analysis of phenotypic and genetic variation of Vatesus beetles, which will result in detailed species descriptions that match the highest modern standards. Finally, I will create an easily usable dichotomous species key of Vatesus beetles by providing visual illustrations exemplifying the differences of presented characters via drawings, high-quality focus-stacked 2-D images, and 3-D models. A solid taxonomy and an easily usable species key will provide the foundation for any kind of future research on these enigmatic social insect symbionts.

行军蚁是热带生态系统中的顶级节肢动物捕食者，除了作为捕食者的关键作用之外，从蚁鸟到节肢动物共生体的多种动物群也依赖于行军蚁的存在。群袭行军蚁 Eciton burchellii 行军蚁的动物区系多样性导致物种鉴定存在重大缺陷，这主要是因为行军蚁的分类学。几十年来，这些类群中值得注意的是最丰富和最有魅力的分类群之一：Vatesus Sharp 属的行甲虫，1876 年。该属由 26 个物种组成，自最新修订以来，它们的分类一直没有受到影响。 20 世纪 50 年代和 20 世纪 60 年代，按照现代标准，历史上的瓦特苏斯物种描述缺乏足够的细节来捕捉表型变异，从而无法进行物种鉴定。至关重要的是，除了两个物种之外，提供甲虫分类学基本特征的生殖器描述都缺失，因此，不稳定的分类学对这些甲虫的任何研究都造成了严重障碍。编制了非凡的 Vatesus 甲虫收藏，其中包括 1,600 多个标本和至少 10 个不同的物种。总的来说，这些收集工作涵盖了广泛的地理区域的数千个标本，基于这些出色的收藏和博物馆的支持，我的目标是对 Vatesus 进行现代系统的修订。通过结合形态特征和遗传位点（COI、wg、CAD）的分析，遗传数据的聚类将揭示每个候选物种的可能代表，然后使用扫描仪扫描所有正型型。同步加速器生成的 X 射线显微断层扫描 (SRμCT)，可对甲虫的外部和内部形态进行定性和定量分析，重要的是，使用 SRμCT I 将分析雄性和雌性生殖器，无需解剖标本，即分子材料保持完整。形态学数据将进行协同分析，目标是强有力地揭示物种边界并根据解剖学定义它们。这种综合方法将提供严格的分析。 Vatesus 甲虫的表型和遗传变异，这将产生符合最高现代标准的详细物种描述。最后，我将通过提供视觉插图来例证所呈现的特征的差异，创建一个易于使用的 Vatesus 甲虫的物种键。 -高质量的焦点堆叠 2D 图像和 3D 模型。可靠的分类学和易于使用的物种密钥将为这些神秘的未来研究奠定基础。社会性昆虫共生体。