Inventário das espécies de Elmidae Curtis, 1830 (Coleoptera: dryopoidea) e associação molecular de larvas e adultos de Macrelmis Motschulsky, 1859 do distrito de Taquaruçu, Palmas, Tocantins, Brasil

Abstract

The family Elmidae Curtis, 1830 includes truly aquatic beetles of lotic environments and, because of their habitat preference and being quite sensitive to environmental changes, they can be used as bioindicators. Traditionally, this family is divided in two subfamilies, Elminae Curtis, 1830 and Larainae LeConte, 1861, although the monophyly of Larainae has been challenged in work with molecular data. Their morphology is quite diverse, with filiform or clavate antennae, tarsals with five segments, the last tarsomer may exceed the length of the previous four combined, and they have a pair of robust tarsal claws. The larvae can have a cylindrical body, hemicylindrical or slightly flattened, having a multi-segmented body, with the last segment more elongated and rounded posteriorly, and most of them have an abdomen with pleural sclerites. In Brazil, 197 species have been recorded, belonging to 26 genera. In the state of Tocantins, no inventory of Elmidae has been produced so far and only four species have been recorded, showing the lack of studies and the need to expand the knowledge of the family in the region. In this paper, we present the first inventory of Elmidae for Tocantins, based on collections from the Taquaruçu district, municipality of Palmas, and provide illustrations, diagnoses, and comments for each species. The specimens were collected in waterfalls and streams, by means of aquatic and terrestrial collections performed in six localities over a period of five years. In chapter one, 1,020 adult specimens belonging to 16 genera and 35 species and one subspecies were collected and examined. Among them, two species remained with undetermined identifications and 10 species are probable new taxa to science. From this inventory, and the previous records, the state of Tocantins now has 37 species and one subspecies, and of these, 13 genera and 34 species are new records, increasing more than 8 times the number of genera and species of Elmidae for the state. In chapter two, there were contributions to the knowledge of the immatures of Macrelmis that, even though it is one of the largest Neotropical genera, few larvae have been studied. Here, three species were studied, namely, M. isus (Hinton, 1946) and two morphotypes that were preliminarily associated using DNA barcoding from a mitochondrial molecular marker.