Revision of the Pantomorus albosignatus species group (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from Mexico and Central America

Pantomorus albosignatus Boheman, 1840 (Entiminae: Naupactini), type species of the genus Pantomorus Schoenherr, 1840, is broadly distributed in Mexico, from Oaxaca and Veracruz to Chihuahua and Coahuila, and is probably related to P. parvulus Sharp 1891 (México: Oaxaca and Veracruz), P. andersoni sp. nov. (México: Guerrero), and P. crinitus (Boheman, 1840) (southern Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala). The four species are small (5-8 mm), apterous, usually show a characteristic maculation and erect setae on the elytra, short antennae, vestigial to absent humeri, and well-developed, squamose corbels of the metatibiae, and are here referred to as the Pantomorus albosignatus species group. Our study was based on the examination of type material and about 500 specimens from different collections, and provides a dichotomous key, descriptions or redescriptions of the species, habitus photographs, line drawings of female and male genitalia, a map of distribution, new locality records and new plant associations. We propose that Pantomorus nobilis (Boheman 1840) is a new junior subjective synonym of P. crinitus (Boheman, 1840), and we designate lectotypes for the species Pantomorus albosignatus Boheman, P. parvulus Sharp, P. crinitus (Boheman), P. nobilis (Boheman) and P. affinis Sharp, 1891 (the latter is also a junior synonym of P. crinitus). Pantomorus albosignatus usually inhabits Acacia grasslands and cactus deserts of the Mexican Plateau, at higher elevations than remaining species; P. parvulus occurs in cloud forests and tropical deciduous forests of southern Mexico; P. crinitus in open oak pine forests, cloud forests and tropical deciduous forests of southern Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador; and P. andersoni is endemic to the state of Guerrero, in Acacia-cactus woodlands.

Multiple lines of evidence reveal a composite of species in the plateau mouse, Peromyscus melanophrys (Rodentia, Cricetidae)

Peromyscus melanophrys is a Mexican endemic distributed in seasonal tropical forests and semiarid lands. Molecular work based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers proposed the existence of four haplogroups within P. melanophrys. Peromyscus mekisturus (Puebla deer mouse) was included in one of these haplogroups. We tested the consistency between this hypothesis and external morphology, quantitative and qualitative cranial attributes, and ecological data for a sample of 1,155 specimens spanning the species distribution. We found ecological and morphological consistency with the phylogenetic pattern for P. melanophrys but not for P. mekisturus. We reassessed the taxonomic and nomenclatural status of the populations and type specimens formerly included in P. melanophrys. We concluded that these populations constitute four species: P. zamorae (Zamora deer mouse), distributed in the Mexican Plateau at elevations > 1,500 m; P. micropus (small-footed deer mouse), from lowland tropical deciduous forests of the San Pedro-Mezquital and Lerma-Santiago basins in western Mexico; P. melanophrys (black-eyed deer mouse) from lowland tropical deciduous forests of southeastern Mexico as far as eastern Oaxaca; and P. leucurus (Tehuantepec deer mouse), partially sympatric with P. melanophrys but reaching as far as Chiapas. Data on P. mekisturus were contradictory, and thus was kept as a valid species.Peromyscus melanophrys es un roedor endémico de México, distribuido en bosques tropicales caducifolios y regiones semiáridas. Datos moleculares usando marcadores mitocondriales y nucleares indicaron la existencia de cuatro haplogrupos dentro de P. melanophrys. Peromyscus mekisturus (ratón de Puebla) se incluyó dentro de uno de éstos. Con base en una muestra de 1,155 ejemplares de toda la distribución de la especie, se examinó si esta hipótesis era consistente con datos de morfología externa y craneal, morfometría e información ecológica. Se encontró coincidencia para P. melanophrys pero no para P. mekisturus. Estos resultados hicieron necesaria la reevaluación del estado taxonómico y nomenclatural de las poblaciones incluidas en P. melanophrys. Se concluye que existen cuatro especies dentro de lo que se conocía como P. melanophrys: P. zamorae (ratón de Zamora) distribuido en el Altiplano Mexicano a elevaciones ≥ 1,500 m; P. micropus (ratón de pata pequeña) distribuido en los bosques tropicales caducifolios de las cuencas San Pedro-Mezquital y Lerma-Santiago en el occidente de México; P. melanophrys (ratón de ojo oscuro) de los bosques y matorrales tropicales caducifolios del sureste de México, al menos hasta el este de Oaxaca, y P. leucurus (ratón de Tehuantepec) parcialmente simpátrico con P. melanophrys pero llegando hasta el estado de Chiapas. La información disponible no permitió asignar a P. mekisturus a ninguno de los grupos y por tanto se sigue considerando como especie válida.