An integrative approach to the study of Kempnyia Klapálek, 1914 (Plecoptera: Perlidae) from Brazil: Support for the description of four new species and a basis for future studies

Abstract

Kempnyia (Plecoptera: Perlidae) is an endemic genus of Brazilian stoneflies that has 36 valid species and is distributed primarily in the Atlantic Forest and the mountainous areas of Central Brazil, particularly in Goiás and Tocantins states. Despite being the Brazilian genus with the most DNA sequences available on GenBank, integrative studies on the genus began only recently, in 2014. In this context, herein we studied the morphology and molecular data of Kempnyia specimens deposited in the Aquatic Biology Laboratory (UNESP, Assis) and the Entomology Museum of the Federal University of Viçosa (UFVB, Viçosa) collections. For the integrative approach adopted, in addition to studying the specimens morphologically, we used sequences of the COI mitochondrial gene combined with the following species delimitation methods: Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), both primary (ABGDp) and recursive (ABGDr) partitions; Assemble Species by Automatic Partitioning (ASAP); Poisson Tree Processes (PTP) and the Bayesian implementation of the Poisson Tree Processes (bPTP). As a result, we provided 28 new COI sequences of 21 species and support the description of four new species, namely, K. guarani sp. nov., K. tupiniquim sp. nov., K. una sp. nov., and K. zwickii sp. nov., consequently increasing the known diversity of the genus to 40 species. We also discuss the morphological variations observed in other species of the genus and provide several new geographic records. Therefore, our study brings new insights into the values of intra- and interspecific molecular divergence within Kempnyia, serving as a basis for new studies.

Fig 1. Molecular analysis.

Maximum-likelihood tree of Kempnyia obtained using mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences (503 bp). Values are ML (blue) and BI (red) posterior probabilities. Vertical bars refer to results of different species delimitation analysis.

Fig 2. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia flava.

Scale: 1 mm. Brazilian states acronyms: Bahia—BA; Espírito Santo—ES; Goiás—GO; Mato Grosso—MT; Mato Grosso do Sul—MS; Minas Gerais—MG; Paraná—PR; Rondônia—RO; Rio de Janeiro—RJ; Rio Grande do Sul—RS; Santa Catarina—SC; São Paulo—SP; Tocantins—TO.

Fig 3. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia goiana, K. mirim, and K. obtusa.

Scale: 1 mm.

Fig 4. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia gracilenta, K. jatim, and K. tupinamba.

Scale: 1 mm. Light pink triangle: Specimens from Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro state.

Fig 5. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia neotropica.

Scale: 1 mm.

Fig 6. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia pirata, K. tenebrosa, and K. vanini.

Scale: 1 mm. Light blue circle: Mantiqueira Mountains. Light green triangle: Specimen from Tabuleiro Mountains; Dark green triangle: Specimen from Brusque.

Fig 7. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia reichardti, K. reticulata, and K. umbrina.

Scale 1 mm.

Fig 8. Occurrence map and specimens of Kempnyia serrana, K. tamoya, and K. tijucana.

Scale: 1 mm.

Fig 9. Kempnyia guarany sp. nov.

Adult male, head and pronotum (A), wings (B) and hammer in lateral (C) and ventral views (D). Penial armature in dorsal (E), ventral (F) and lateral views (G). Scale: 1 mm.

Fig 10. Kempnyia tupiniquim sp. nov.

Adult male, head and pronotum (A), wings (B) and hammer in lateral (C) and ventral views (D). Penial armature in dorsal (E), ventral (F) and lateral views (G). Scale: 1 mm.

Fig 11. Kempnyia una sp. nov.

Adult female, head and pronotum (A) and subgenital plate in ventral view (B–C). Scale: 1 mm.

Fig 12. Kempnyia zwicki sp. nov.

Adult male, head and pronotum (A), wings (B) and hammer in lateral (C) and ventral views (D). Penial armature in dorsal (E), ventral (F) and lateral views (G). Scale: 1 mm.