Abstract
The genus Franciscobasis Machado & Bedê, 2016 is endemic to the Serra da Canastra National Park in Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Two species of Franciscobasis were described simultaneously with the genus description: F. franciscoi and F. sonia, the latter described only from females. Through morphological and molecular analysis, we investigated if F. sonia may represent the young female of F. franciscoi. Resulting data did not present adequate differences between females to characterize them as different species. Therefore, we suggest that F. sonia is a junior synonym of F. franciscoi, and the female of F. franciscoi goes through a complex ontogenetic color change.
Highlights
The orange vertical limit (OL) makes an angle of almost 90 ̊ with the black/pale limit in mesepisternum and mesinfraepisternum, a pattern observed in all females examined
All our evidence shows that Franciscobasis sonia is the same taxon as F. franciscoi
Our images are quite different from the original description figures, which may be due to improper position of prothorax at the time of drawing
Summary
Two species of Franciscobasis were described simultaneously with the genus description: F. franciscoi and F. sonia, the latter described only from females. Through morphological and molecular analysis, we investigated if F. sonia may represent the young female of F. franciscoi. The separation between females of F. sonia and F. franciscoi was based mainly on coloration [1].
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