Molecular phylogeny and classification of the genus Heteragrion Selys (Odonata: Heteragrionidae)

• Grant number: 19/26438-9
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): November 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal researcher: Pitágoras da Conceição Bispo
• Grantee: Diogo Silva Vilela
• Home Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The order Odonata, although one of the best-studied insect groups in terms of taxonomy, still has many recurring problems such as the lack of reliable diagnostic characters and identification keys for both sexes, wrongly described taxa from coloring characters, uncertain taxonomic diagnosis for females, and groups that have never been analyzed phylogenetically. In a recent phylogeny for the suborder Zygoptera an extensive phylogenetic reconstruction of the suborder was made, even proposing a reclassification for some groups, where families such as Megapodagrionidae were considered polyphyletic and had several genera repositioned in new families or re-established names. Among the reclassified groups, Heteragrionidae was proposed as a family, containing two genera: Heteragrion Selys and Oxystigma Selys. Of these two genera, Heteragrion was revisited only on one occasion a hundred years ago, and although some species have been treated by Lencioni (2013), the genus has not yet been reviewed and therefore lacks a taxonomic and phylogenetic reevaluation. This project aims to carry out the taxonomic treatment of all Heteragrion Group A species and to propose the first molecular phylogeny of the group. This review will include: i. Morphological analysis and characterization of male anal appendages; ii. Analysis of the longitudinal length of the head and its relationship with the groupings proposed by Selys (1862) and Lencioni (2013); iii.Description of the intersternite, posterior lobe morphology and genital valves for females,defining diagnostic characters that allow their identification in the absence of males; iv.Molecular phylogeny through mitochondrial genes 16S and COI and nuclear gene 28S including most Group A species and some from Group B and from Oxystigma Selys. Thus, it will be possible to: 1) test the Heteragrion monofilies of groups A and B; 2) reveal possible synonyms in described species based on coloring characters; 3) narrow the molecular information gap within the suborder; 4) present an illustrated identification key for both sexes, never designed for Group A species. (AU)