Abstract
Specimens of Gyriosomus (Tenebrionidae, Nycteliini) are conspicuous darkling beetles of the Chilean Atacama desert. Most species of this genus have restricted ranges and emerge as adults only after extensive rainfall. During the last blooming of the desert in 2017, we collected several specimens in the Monumento Natural Paposo Norte (Antofagasta region), which showed morphological differences, such as elytral pilosity pattern and shape of the pronotum, when compared with the sympatric Gyriosomus angustus and G. curtisi as well as other morphologically similar species (G. chango and G. barriai). We analyzed external morphology, female and male external genitalia, and the COI sequences of these specimens and compared these data with those of other species in that subregion. The results support the description of a new species, Gyriosomus camanchacasp. nov., which is more closely related to G. chango than to the sympatric species of the Monumento Natural Paposo Norte. The evolutionary history of Gyriosomus in the Paposo region and its importance for conservation are discussed.
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