Investigating patterns of morphological diversification in Heteronotus (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Heteronotinae), with emphasis on camouflage, mimicry and sexual dimorphism

• Grant number: 12/21398-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Carlos José Einicker Lamas
• Grantee: Olivia Evangelista de Souza
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 14/01793-7 - Molecular systematics and morphological diversification in the genus Heteronotus (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Heteronotinae) focusing on the evolution of mimicry and crypsis, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Treehoppers in the family Membracidae are entomologically famous for the extreme morphological diversity of their pronotum, which often consist of brightly colored and curiously shaped structures. With regard to pronotal morphology, the Neotropical treehopper subfamily Heteronotinae Goding, 1926 is amongst the most diverse, displaying remarkably dissimilar structures across its nine currently recognized genera. The genus Heteronotus Laporte, the most species-rich lineage in the subfamily, shows intricate arrangement of spines and pronotal nodes in species that mimic wasps and ants, or are cryptic. Some Heteronotus species exhibit extreme sexual dimorphism; this characteristic, strictly associated to ant mimicry or camouflage, consists of a unique condition in the subfamily. To date, pronotal morphology was not yet objectively quantified using morphometric methods, as to investigate pronotal diversification in a phylogenetic framework. The goal of the proposed research project is to explore this gap, and implement landmark-based geometric morphometric analyses to assess pronotal shape variation in Heteronotus species. Heteronotus phylogeny can be projected into a multivariate morphospace generated from morphometric data to map the evolutionary history of this diversification, and understand its direction and magnitude. This approach allows the investigation of multiple aspects, which include: (a) which portion of the pronotum shows highest morphological variability; (b) which species/lineages are more morphologically diverse with regard to pronotal shape; (c) what is the morphological disparity between species and sexes; (d) what is the number of lineages per morphospace volume, i.e., what is the mode and magnitude of the morphological diversification in species of Heteronotus.

Scientific publications

(9)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ALVES GADELHA, YVE ELIGIER; DATTILO, WESLEY; EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA; LOPES, BENEDITO CORTES. Structure of mutualistic ant-treehopper interactions in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY, v. 32, n. 3, p. 250-259, MAY 2016. (12/21398-0)

CREAO-DUARTE, ANTONIO JOSE; ANDRADE DANTAS ROTHEA, REMBRANDT ROMANO; LOURENCO, ALINE; CABRAL, VALBERTA ALVES; EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA. Two remakable new species of Notocera Amyot and Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera, Membracidae, Hypsoprorini) from the Brazilian Caatinga. Zootaxa, v. 4281, n. 1, p. 77-89, JUN 22 2017. (12/21398-0)

CAMACHO, LUIS F.; FLOREZ-, V, CAMILO; EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA. Notes on the genus Sakakibarella Creao-Duarte with description of three new species (Membracidae: Membracinae: Hoplophorionini). Zootaxa, v. 4281, n. 1, p. 90-107, JUN 22 2017. (12/21398-0)

EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA; FLOREZ-, V, CAMILO; SAKAKIBARA, ALBINO M.. The identity of the treehopper genus Dysyncritus Fowler, with descriptions of new related taxa (Hemiptera: Membracidae: Heteronotinae). Zootaxa, v. 3847, n. 4, p. 495-532, AUG 11 2014. (12/21398-0)

ALVES GADELHA, YVE ELIGIER; DATTILO, WESLEY; EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA; LOPES, BENEDITO CORTES. Structure of mutualistic ant-treehopper interactions in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY, v. 32, p. 10-pg., 2016-05-01. (12/21398-0)

EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA; SAKAIBARA, ALBINO M.; CRYAN, JASON R.; URBAN, JULIE M.. A phylogeny of the treehopper subfamily Heteronotinae reveals convergent pronotal traits (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Membracidae). Systematic Entomology, v. 42, n. 2, p. 410-428, APR 2017. (14/01793-7, 12/21398-0)

FLOREZ-, V, CAMILO; EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA. New species in the treehopper genus Bocydium Latreille, with description of nymphal stages and observations on their natural history. Zootaxa, v. 4281, n. 1, p. 22-57, JUN 22 2017. (12/21398-0)

EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA; MARQUES DOS SANTOS, GUILHERME IDE; LAMAS, CARLOS EINICKER. An annotated catalogue of the Membracidae types in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulo, Brazil (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha: Cicadomorpha). Zootaxa, v. 3895, n. 1, p. 1-30, DEC 12 2014. (14/01793-7, 12/21398-0)

EVANGELISTA, OLIVIA; TAKIYA, DANIELA MAEDA; DIETRICH, CHRISTOPHER H.. The art and science of describing nature's surrealists: Foreword from the Editors. Zootaxa, v. 4281, n. 1, p. 17-pg., 2017-06-22. (12/21398-0)