The genus Callistethus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae) in the Neotropics: new data and new species from Costa Rica

The species Callistethus carbo sp.n., C. flavodorsalis sp.n., C. fuscorubens sp.n., C. lativittis sp.n., C. levigatus sp.n., C. macroxantholeus sp.n., C. microxantholeus sp.n., C. multiplicatus sp.n., C. parapulcher sp.n., C. pseudocollaris sp.n. and C. stannibractea sp.n. from Costa Rica are described. Synonymy of Callistethus kolbei (Ohaus, 1897) with Callistethus specularis (Bates, 1888) is proposed. A phylogenetic analysis based on the genes 16S, COI and 28S is carried out for Costa Rican species and diagnostic morphological features for the genus are tested on it for phylogenetic signal. An identification key for Callistethus species of Costa Rica is provided. The distribution patterns of Callistethus species in Costa Rica are discussed.

Se describen las especies Callistethus carbo sp.n., C. flavodorsalis sp.n., C. fuscorubens sp.n., C. lativittis sp.n., C. levigatus sp.n., C. macroxantholeus sp.n., C. microxantholeus sp.n., C. multiplicatus sp.n., C. parapulcher sp.n., C. pseudocollaris sp.n. y C. stannibractea sp.n. de Costa Rica. Se propone una nueva sinonimia de Callistethus kolbei (Ohaus, 1897) con Callistethus specularis (Bates, 1888). Se realiza un análisis filogenético basado en los genes 16S, COI y 28S con especies de Costa Rica y sobre el árbol resultante se comprueba la señal filogenética de los caracteres morfológicos diagnósticos del género. Se proporciona una clave para las especies de Callistethus de Costa Rica. Se discuten los patrones de distribución del género en Costa Rica.

Financial support was provided by the Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID) projects A/4426/05, A/6788/06, A/019887/08, A/023060/09 and a PhD grant to V. Filippini from the Spanish Ministry of Education. The research stay at the Natural History Museum, London received support from the SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info/ that is financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 ‘Capacities’ Program.