From morphology to molecular data: a comprehensive taxonomic revision of Alfaria Emery, 1896 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) using integrative methods

• Grant number: 23/07490-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: January 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Gabriela Procópio Camacho
• Grantee: Samara Santos
• Host Institution: Museu de Zoologia (MZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/12632-0 - An old sample tells a good story: the evolutionary history of mammals from the diagonal of open vegetation of South America told by biological collections, AP.BTA.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/03289-9 - From morphology to molecular data: a comprehensive taxonomic revision of Alfaria Emery, 1896 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ectatomminae) using integrative methods, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The ant genus Alfaria Emery, 1896 is endemic to the Neotropical region, presenting species with terrestrial, hypogeic, slow and fearful habits, being distributed in South America, Central America and part of Mexico. It is a poorly studied group, with 9 species in total, with the last comprehensive review carried out in 1992 by John Lattke and, since then, only scientific notes on the species and their natural history have been published. Therefore, it is necessary to compile and add more knowledge to the genus, especially with regard to species described only by one individual and cryptic species. In this work, we aim to gather, compare and analyze the morphological information that has been presented since the discovery of the genus, through strategies complementary to traditional taxonomy, the so-called integrative taxonomy. Therefore, this project has the following objectives: (i) Taxonomically review the species of the genus Alfaria; (ii) Create a dichotomous identification key for the species; and (iii) Know, through molecular data, the relationships and intraspecific limits for cryptic species (A. minuta and A. simulans). The use of integrative taxonomy can help with in-depth knowledge about Alfaria, proposing problems and ideas to solve them, in addition to contributing to existing studies, actively acting in updating the geographic distribution and increasing the photographic collection of the database.