Taxonomic review and phylogenetic analysis of the genus Aulacizes Amyot & Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Cicadellinae: Proconiini)

Abstract

This thesis is divided into two scientific papers: the first addresses species delimitation within the Aulacizes conspersa Walker, 1851 complex; the second consists of a taxonomic revision and a morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis of the Neotropical genus Aulacizes Amyot & Serville, 1843. The first article (and chapter) aims to understand and define the boundaries among distinct evolutionary lineages of A. conspersa through singlelocus molecular species delimitation methods, in conjunction with a detailed morphological analysis. Mitochondrial (COI) and nuclear (ITS2) DNA sequences were used and analyzed using various delimitation approaches, including ABGD, ASAP, GMYC, bPTP, mPTP, and PTP. The second article (and chapter) presents a taxonomic revision of Aulacizes, along with phylogenetic analyses based on morphological data (92 characters) and molecular data (four genes: 16S, H3, COI, and COII). According to the results, Aulacizes still includes nine valid species, albeit with a new taxonomic arrangement: A. conspersa Walker, 1851, A. erythrocephala (Germar, 1821), A. insistans (Walker, 1858), A. nigriceps Schmidt, 1928 stat. nov., sp. rev., A. obsoleta Melichar, 1926, A. persistans (Walker, 1858) sp. reval., A. quadripunctata (Germar, 1821) (type species), A. repanda (Signoret, 1855) sp. reval., and A. similata (Signoret, 1855). The phylogenetic analyses recovered Aulacizes as a monophyletic group, with Proconosama + (Paraulacizes + Pseudometopia) as its sister group, partially corroborating previous studies.