Mesochila (Neomesochila), 2022

Roza, Andre Silva, Schrago, Carlos G. & Mermudes, Jose Ricardo M., 2022, Phylogeny, infrageneric classification and historical biogeography of Mesochila Rivalier, 1969 (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), with the performance of different phylogenetic inferences using morphological data compared, Arthropod Systematics & amp; Phylogeny 80, pp. 117-135 : 117

Mesochila (Neomesochila) subgen. nov.

Type species.

Odontocheila brevipennis W. Horn, 1907

Etymology.

Composed word formed by neo (from Greek, means new) and Mesochila , the genus name.

Diagnosis.

Smaller body length, usually between 6-9.3 mm; mandibles with four teeth (plus molar one); pronotum as wide as long; elytra 3.3-3.6 times longer than wide, finely punctate; aedeagus thin, with apical third subparallel, with apex forming distinctly wide bent rounded beak, internal sac containing stingray-like ventral spur and an oval feebly sclerotized central sclerite.

4 species included:

· M. (N.) brevipennis (W. Horn, 1907)

· M. (N.) drechseli (Sawada and Wiesner, 1997)

· M. (N.) moraveci (Roza and Mermudes, 2019)

· M. (N.) prepusula (W. Horn, 1907)

Note.

It is interesting to point out that the stingray-like ventral spur (term proposed by Moravec 2018a, 2020), one of the most distinct features of M. (Mesochila) , present in almost all species previous to this study, was found to be homoplastic, with independent origins in M. (Neomesochila) subgen. nov. and inside M. (Mesochila) , derived from bifurcate or u-shaped ventral spurs.

Finally, it is important to highlight that the outgroup relationships suggest, in most analysis, a relationship between Odontocheila nodicornis and Phyllodroma luteomaculata , and in many of them, also between Pentacomia speculifera and Mesachantina chalceola . As already pointed out by Moravec (2016, 2018a, b, 2020), the Pentacomia former subgenera are probably not phylogenetically related, due to several morphological differences. The most conspicuous one is the uniformly shaped protarsi in both sexes in all Pentacomia species (unique character in the subtribe and within majority of Cicindelidae ). The same goes for Odontocheila and Phyllodroma , that share an aedeagus flagellum, but with very different morphology and most probably homoplastic (Moravec, 2018b). Only a broader analysis, including representative taxa from all Odontocheilina genera may give better understanding of the group relationships.