Abstract
We revisit the diagnosis and evolution concept of aedeagal morphology in the tribe Ptomaphagini using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. We here focus on Adelopsis Portevin, 1907, which is a speciose Neotropical genus, which includes species with male genitalia varying from elongate and slender to globose and very complex (including the so-called ‘ultra evolved aedeagi’). We analyzed SEM images focusing on the aedeagal morphology of 19 described species and eight species here described, representatives of most of the species groups recognized in the genus and representing a broad variety of aedeagal types observed in the genus. The eight Brazilian new species here described (all in benardi species group) are: Adelopsis boraceia Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, Adelopsis monticola Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, Adelopsis vanini Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, Adelopsis gibber Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, and Adelopsis ilhabela Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, from São Paulo state, Adelopsis caeteh Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species and Adelopsis gandarela Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, from Minas Gerais state, and Adelopsis sacerdotis Gnaspini & Gomyde, new species, from Bahia state. We record several types of probable sensory structures on the ‘ultra evolved’ aedeagi of species in benardi species group; and we also address more finely the complex morphology of the aedeagi in benardi and elephas species groups. Those characters will help with phylogenetic analysis of the genus and the tribe as a whole when the same kind of study includes the remaining species. We also add images of the aedeagus apex taken from slightly different views in order to highlight the importance of precisely illustrate the aedeagus to avoid misleading comparisons and misidentification of species.
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