Phylogeny of the genus Stephomyia Tavares, 1916 (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Abstract

Abstract Stephomyia Tavares, 1916 comprises seven species, all Neotropical: S. clavata (Tavares, 1920); S. epeugeniae Gagné, 1994; S. espiralis Maia, 1993; S. mina Maia, 1993; S. rotundifoliorum Maia, 1993; S. tetralobae Maia, 1993; and S. eugeniae (Felt, 1913). In the present study, a cladistic analysis based upon adult, pupa, larva and gall morphological characters as well as host plant data is carried out in order to discuss the monophyly of the genus and the relationships among the known species. The Stephomyia monophyly was supported by eight synapomorphies: five homoplastic characters and three non-homoplastic characters. Analyzes showed S. clavata with great instability within the genus, probably due to lack of larva, pupa and female data, so S. clavata was deactivated in analyze. The topology found was (S. mina ((S. eugeniae + S. epeugeniae) (S. tetralobae (S. rotundifoliorum + S. espiralis)))).