Andrew E. Z. Short

University of Kansas | KU · Biodiversity Institute

Notomicrinae (Coleoptera: Noteridae) is a subfamily of minute and ecologically diverse aquatic beetles distributed across the Southeast Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. We investigate the evolution of Notomicrinae and construct the first species-level phylogeny within Noteridae using five nuclear and mitochondrial gene fragments. We focus on the ge...

Abstract. Adephaga is the second largest suborder of beetles (Coleoptera) and they serve as important arthropod predators in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The suborder is divided into Geadephaga comprising terrestrial families and Hydradephaga for aquatic lineages. Despite numerous studies, phylogenetic relationships among the adephagan...

Targeted capture and enrichment approaches have proven effective for phylogenetic study. Ultraconserved elements (UCEs) in particular have exhibited great utility for phylogenomic analyses, with the software package phyluce being among the most utilized pipelines for UCE phylogenomics, including probe design. Despite the success of UCEs, it is beco...

The Neotropical tribe Dorynotini is characterized by a conspicuous tubercle or spine adorning the elytra, which, along with a few other characters, has been used to differentiate its recognized five genera and two subgenera. However, relationships among these taxa and the evolutionary origin of the pronounced tubercle remain speculative. Here we pr...

The Neotropical tribe Dorynotini is characterized by a conspicuous tubercle or spine adorning the elytra, which, along with a few other characters, has been used to differentiate its recognized five genera and two subgenera. However, relationships among these taxa and the evolutionary origin of the pronounced tubercle remain speculative. Here we pr...

The Venezuelan species of the genus Gyrinus Geoffroy, 1762 are reviewed (Gyrinidae: Gyrininae: Gyrinini). The Venezuelan Gyrinus fauna is found to be comprised of nine species distributed among the subgenera Neogyrinus Hatch, 1926 and Oreogyrinus Ochs, 1935, although Gyrinus (Oreogyrinus) colombicus Régimbart, 1883 is known from imprecisely localiz...

The beetle suborder Adephaga has been the subject of many phylogenetic reconstructions utilizing a variety of data sources and inference methods. However, no strong consensus has yet emerged on the relationships among major adephagan lineages. Ultraconserved elements (UCEs) have proved useful for inferring difficult or unresolved phylogenies at var...

The water scavenger beetle tribe Hydrobiusini contains 47 species in eight genera distributed worldwide. Most species of the tribe are aquatic, although several species are known to occur in waterfalls or tree mosses. Some members of the tribe are known to communicate via underwater stridulation. While recent morphological and molecular-based phylo...

Cretocrenis burmanicus, gen. et sp. nov. is described from Burmese amber and represents the oldest known amber inclusion of the family Hydrophilidae (Coleoptera: Polyphaga). The new genus resembles the small-bodied modern genera of the tribe Anacaenini and the subfamily Acidocerinae, and the morphology of the venter and male genitalia suggest that...

The egg case and larvae of all three instars of the cascade beetle Tritonus complanatus Short, 2008 (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) are described based on specimens found co-occurring with adults and associated with them by comparing histone 3 nDNA sequences. The morphology of the larva is congruent with the phylogenetic position of Tritonus Mulsant, 1...

We tested the hypothesis that ancient vicariance in giant water scavenger beetles shaped their current distribution. Worldwide except Antarctica. We inferred a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the tribe Hydrophilini using probabilistic methods based on broad geographical and taxonomic sampling. We used fossil-based molecular dating and likelih...

Neotropical diving beetles of the genus Platynectes are distributed across Central America, the Andes and different Precambrian shields in the Amazon Basin. Species from the northern Guiana Shield form a monophyletic clade, yet the phylogenetic relationships of the eastern Atlantic Shield species remain unknown. Here, we augmented an existing molec...

The first molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the aquatic beetle family Noteridae is inferred using DNA sequence data from five gene fragments (mitochondrial and nuclear): COI, H3, 16S, 18S, and 28S. Our analysis is the most comprehensive phylogenetic reconstruction of Noteridae to date, and includes 53 species representing all subfamilies, tribe...

In recent years, several new genera have been erected in the subfamily Copelatinae, including the description of endemic taxa from Madagascar, New Guinea, South Africa, and Venezuela. Here we build upon a recent molecular phylogeny of this subfamily to investigate the phylogenetic placement of Rugosus García, 2001, a genus comprising two species fr...

India and Madagascar drifted apart more than 80 Mya, yet few taxonomic groups currently found in these regions bear any signature of this split. When drifting in isolation, extensive volcanic activity covered almost half of India in lava flows, likely triggering widespread extinction on the island. Consequently, most of India's rich extant flora an...

The genus Sphaerocetum Fikáček, 2010 is reviewed on the basis of specimens collected from mixed ant nests shared by Camponotus Mayr, 1861 and Crematogaster Lund, 1831 ants in Peninsular Malaysia. Two new species, S. arboreum, sp. nov. and S. hortulanum, sp. nov., are described. A larva of S. arboreum was collected in the same nest as the adults, im...

Explaining the disparity of species richness across the tree of life is one of the great challenges in evolutionary biology. Some lineages are exceptionally species rich, while others are relatively species poor. One explanation for heterogeneity among clade richness is that older clades are more species rich because they have had more time to accr...

A new hydrophilid genus Chimaerocyon gen. nov. containing two species, C. shimadai sp. nov. (Malaysia: Pahang) and C. sumatranus sp. nov. (Indonesia: Sumatra), is described. Specimens of C. shimadai were collected from brood cells in a nest of Pheidole singaporensis Özdikmen, 2010. The biology of C. sumatranus remains unknown. A molecular phylog-en...

The species of Lutrochidae occurring in Venezuela are revised. The only previously recorded species, Lutrochus acuminatus Grouvelle, is redescribed and a lectotype is designated. Lutrochus vestitus Sharp, is recorded from Venezuela and French Guiana for the first time. Six new species Lutrochus gustafsoni n. sp., L. cauraensis n. sp., L. maldonadoi...

The species of the water scavenger beetle genus Berosus Leach occurring in Venezuela are reviewed. Thirty-six species are recorded, including fifteen new species, fourteen of which are described here as new: Berosus araguasp. n., Berosus asymmetricussp. n., Berosus capanaparosp. n., Berosus castaneussp. n., Berosus corozosp. n., Berosus ebeninussp....

Meruidae, or comb-clawed cascade beetles, are a recently discovered monotypic family of Adephaga endemic to Venezuela. The larvae of Meruidae are described for the Þrst time, based on material of Meru phyllisae Spangler & Steiner, 2005, collected together with adults in southern Venezuela. External morphological features, including chaetotaxy, are...

The hydrophilid genus Cetiocyon Hansen (Sphaeridiinae: Megasternini) is diagnosed and revised, resulting in the fi rst record of the genus in the Neotropical Region and recognition of eight species in New Guinea. One new species, Cetiocyon incantatus new species, is described from Suriname, and four new species from the central mountain range of Ne...

The water scavenger beetle genus Oocyclus Sharp is reported from Venezuela for the first time. A review of more than 3000 specimens revealed fourteen species, including twelve described as new: O. andinus sp. n., O. bolivari sp. n., O. coromoto sp. n., O. floccus sp. n., O. galbus sp. n., O. meridensis sp. n., O. petra sp. n., O. pico, sp. n., O. p...

A remarkable new species, Hemiosus tarsalis sp.n. (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) from Amazonian Peru, is described and illustrated. It is unique among members of the genus in possessing a narrow, laminar carina of the mesoventrite and enlarged male protarsal segments. The generic limits of Hemiosus with respect to Berosus are discussed and expanded to...

The recently described Hydrochara major İncekara, Mart, Polat, & Karaca, 2009 from Turkey is transferred to the genus Brownephilus Mouchamps. New records and habitat information are given for the species, as well as diagnostic features for separating it from the only other described member of the genus, Brownephilus levantinus Balfour-Browne. The d...

The previously monotypic genus Sacosternum Hansen, 1989 is revised and redefined. Eleven species are recognized, of which eight are described as new: Sacosternum auribleps sp. n. (Brazil), S. cruciphallus sp. n. (Panama), S. delta sp. n. (Brazil, Paraguay); S. emissarium sp. n. (Costa Rica), S. epulum sp. n. (Brazil), S. garciai sp. n. (Costa Rica,...

The Neotropical skiff beetle genus Yara Reichardt and Hinton is recorded from Venezuela for the first time, marking the first discovery of the genus since its original description in 1976. The Venezuelan species, Yara maculata Short, Joly, and Garcia, new species, is described and illustrated, bringing the total number of species in the genus to th...

The hydrophiline subtribe Hydrophilina is composed of nearly 200 described species, including all known water scavenger beetles over 15 mm in length. Found in all biogeographic regions, the lineage is the most recognizable group in the family due to its large size and presence of a sternal keel. A phylogenetic analysis of Hydrophilina based on 80 a...

Among freshwater organisms, water flow is frequently considered to be one of the most important environmental variables affecting life-history traits such as dispersal abilities and therefore genetic structure. Recent studies have suggested that habitat type alone as defined by water flow is predictive of genetic population differentiation, while o...

Blackburnia riparia, new species is described from the summit of Mt. Waialeale, Kauai, Hawaii, incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis of Blackburnia Sharp, and thereby placed as the adelphotaxon to two other allopatric Kauai species, B. lata Liebherr and B. atra Liebherr. The new species occurs in riparian habitats, including vertical rock-faced...

Abstract Recent field surveys in the Hawaiian Islands have revealed an adaptive radiation of endemic water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae). Phylogenetic analysis based on 55 adult morphological characters affirms that this endemic hydrophilid fauna is a monophyletic clade that incorporates the first well-supported transformation from...

Species of the water beetle family Hydrophilidae (Coleoptera) occurring in Mongolia are summarized. Detailed locality records and comments on habitat preferences from species collected during the 2004 Selenge River Basin Expeditions are provided. Enochrus quadripunctatus (Herbst) is recorded from Mongolia for the first time, with new locality recor...

Additions and corrections to the World Catalogue of Hydrophiloidea (HANSEN 1999) are presented. All new taxa and synonymies as well as all new combinations and taxa with new status are summarized. New distributional data for previously described species are not covered. Aschius MAKHAN, 2004, Rishihydroius MAKHAN, 2001, Satishius MAKHAN, 2004 and So...

Blackburnia riparia, new species is described from the summit of Mt. Waialeale, Kauai, Hawaii, incorporated into a phylogenetic analysis of Blackburnia Sharp, and thereby placed as the adelphotaxon to two other allopatric Kauai species, B. lata Liebherr and B. atra Liebherr. The new species occurs in riparian habitats, including vertical rock-faced...