Another step towards understanding phylogenetic relationships in Asphondyliini: revisiting two hypotheses to Bruggmanniella s.l. (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae)

Abstract

An update of the delimitation of the genus Bruggmanniella based on phylogenetic analysis using morphological data is presented. In this work, we reinforced the results of the previous phylogenetic analysis of the closely related genera Bruggmanniella, Pseudasphondylia, Illiciomyia and Odontokeros, assigned here as Bruggmanniella s.l after the controversial molecular approach of Lin et al. (2020). We also included the species described under Bruggmanniella between 2019 and 2020 and discuss some aspects of the evolutionary changes of pupal morphology related with niche occupation of Bruggmanniella species. The results confirm our previous delimitation of the Bruggmanniella s.l arranged into three branches: one branch composed exclusively with the Neotropical species of Bruggmanniella; another branch containing the species of Pseudasphondylia, found only in Japan; and the last branch with species of Odontokeros with predominant distribution in Taiwan. Our results also support the revalidation of the genus Odontokeros, and Illiciomyia as synonym of Pseudasphondylia.