Embioptera
Creators: name: Krolow, Tiago Kütter
name: Szumik, Claudia
name: Rafael, José Albertino
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2024
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Embioptera

description: In Brazil, 57 native species of
Embioptera
are known, distributed in four families (Fig. 1) and 21 genera (Table 1). Additionally, an invasive species has already been recorded (Montanuci et al. 2023) elevating to 58 species and five families. Of these species, around 80% (46 species) are known only for Brazilian territory, while another 20% (12 spp.) are shared with neighboring countries. Archembiidae is the most diverse family with 32 species (26 endemic) and nine genera (four endemic). The second is Anisembiidae with 13 species (12 endemic) and six genera (three endemic), the least diverse are Teratembiidae with seven species (three endemic) and three genera, and Clothodidae with five species (all endemic) and three genera (one endemic).
Historical data
The history of studies on Brazilian embiopterans began in the 19 th century (Figs 2–4), the first species recorded for Brazil was Embius brasiliensis Gray in Griffith & Pidgeon, 1832, now Embolyntha brasiliensis. The second was Embia batesi McLachlan, 1877 (now Archembia batesi) in honor of the collector, Henry Walter Bates. The third was Embia nobilis Gerstäcker, 1888 (now Clothoda nobilis). Although Embia saundersii Westwood, 1837 (now Oligotoma sandeursii) was described in the 19 th century, it is an invasive species and was only recorded in the following century by Enderlein (1912). In sequence, another Oligotomidae was described for Brazil, Oligotoma rochai Navás, 1917, but later synonymized under O. saundersii.
In the 20 th century, the number of described species increased by more than four times, with 18 species described (Fig. 2). The works of Edward Ross and Claudia Szumik began in this period, and they constitute the first-generation of specialists on taxonomy of Neotropical species and promote the knowledge of this order in Brazil (Figs 2–4).
Despite the lack of a Brazilian taxonomist in the group, two Brazilian researchers contributed significantly to the group’s knowledge: the first was Ângelo Moreira da Costa Lima (1887–1964) with his invaluable contribution to Brazilian entomology (Costa Lima 1938); the second was Dyrce Lacombe for her notable work on the anatomy, histology and physiology of Embioptera (Barth and Lacombe 1955, Lacombe 1958a, 1958b, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1971).
In the 21 st century, Embioptera presents an exponential growth in describing new species (Fig. 4), reaching 36 species in a short period. This growth was largely supported of Ross’s (2001, 2003) articles with 19 species (Fig. 3) and Szumik et al. (2017, 2022) with 12 species (Fig. 3) described. Until 2016, no species of Embioptera had been described by Brazilian researchers. The introduction of Clothoda tocantinensis Krolow & Valadares, 2016 represents the initial step towards Brazilians’ work on the taxonomy of Embioptera (Krolow and Valadares 2016). Subsequently, three other Brazilian researchers (Bruna S. Andrade, Paula J. Costa-Pinto and Lidianne Salvatierra) described four more species (Table 2).
Thus, the taxonomy of Embioptera in Brazil is currently restricted to a few specialists; Ross described 31 of the species that occur in Brazil, while Szumik 14 species, Andrade two species and all other 11 authors only one species (Table 2).
Regarding nationalities, Ross (American) and Szumik (Argentine) are the only representatives of their countries but are responsible for the largest number of described species (45 species). European researchers, active in the 19 th and 20 th centuries, were responsible for describing around 12% (7 species) of the species that occur in Brazil, while Brazilians represent only 8.6% (5 species) (Fig. 5). The accumulation curve (Fig. 6) provides a historical and current overview of the taxonomy of Embioptera in Brazil and its trends. The taxon began to be studied by multiple European taxonomists, who were replaced by an American specialist in the middle of the 20 th century. Only at the end of the 20 th century, Embioptera had the first South American (Claudia Szumik) researcher specializing in Neotropical fauna and Brazil, while research carried out by Brazilians only began in the 21 st century, more precisely in the last decade.
Until the end of the 20 th century, taxonomic articles on Brazilian embiopteran were written exclusively by men. Only in 1997, a new era began with Szumik’s articles (Fig. 7). Of the 14 authors who have described Embioptera species occurring in Brazil (Table 2), 10 are men, accounting for 69% of the described species, while four are women, responsible for 31%. On the other hand, a new trend seems to be emerging: of the five active authors, four are women, three of whom are Brazilian.
Type specimensThe name-bearing types of Brazilian Embioptera species are mostly deposited in Brazilian institutions, with 30 name-bearing types (29 holotypes and one neotype) in three collections (Table 3). North American institutions follow, with 22 holotypes in three collections. European institutions represent four collections but only six name-bearing types (five holotypes and one neotype).
Regarding collections, the most significant number of name-bearing types are deposited in Brazil and the United States (Table 4). The institution that houses the Edward Ross collection, CAS, has 15 name-bearing types and is the more numerous, followed by INPA (14 name-bearing types), MZUSP (nine name-bearing types), MNRJ (seven name-bearing types) and USNM (five name-bearing types). All other collections have less than three name-bearing types each. In Brazil, the name-bearing types are distributed among three collections, of which INPA houses 47%, while MZUSP and MNRJ have 30% and 23%, respectively (Fig. 8).
Females, males, immatures and eggs
Until now, the taxonomy of Embioptera has been primarily dominated and based on the use of characters from the male terminalia, for example, of the 58 species recorded for Brazil, only Pararhagadochir bicingillata (Enderlein, 1909) was originally designated as a female holotype. Ordinarily, females, immatures and eggs are neglected (Table 5). Ninety-three percent of the Brazilian species have a complete description of the males, while only 8.6% of the females (Table 5). Males are well known; almost 90% of species have illustrations (drawings), and 8.6% have photos of diagnostic characters or bodies. In opposite, 43.1% the females, have only brief comments, another 44.8% are unknown, only 1.7% has been properly illustrated (drawn), and 6.9% have photos available. Only one species (1.7%), Biguembia flavibrunnea Andrade et al., 2023, has a complete description with illustrations and photos of its life cycle, including egg, immature, female and male stages.
Collection methods
Each work that included the description of a species was checked to verify the collection method used. Such as expected, manual collection of colonies was the method with the best results in obtaining specimens of new species, responsible for 52%. Far from that, records were made by traps with a light attractant (8% manual or light trap) or flight interception (3% Malaise trap) (Fig. 9). Unfortunately, 34% of the described species did not indicate a collection method (casual collection).
Distribution
As discussed previously, Embioptera is little-known, with few specialists in Brazil; only two states have more than 10 described species, the Amazonas and Pará, both with 13 species (Fig. 10). Another three states, Rondônia, Santa Catarina and Tocantins have records of nine species each. All the others have less than eight species recorded, and in four states, Acre, Alagoas, Sergipe, and Rio Grande do Norte, the order has not yet been formally registered (Fig. 10).
About Brazilian terrestrial biomes, the Amazon is the most diverse with 28 species, of which 24 are endemic (Fig. 11). The Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado are the second and third, with 17 and 13 species recorded, respectively (Fig. 11). Caatinga (three species), Pampa (two species) and Pantanal (one species) are less diverse (Fig. 11). The number of endemic species is high in all biomes and the level of endemism in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest reaches values above 80%, while Cerrado and Caatinga reach almost 70%. Pampa does not have any endemic species, while in Pantanal, the only known species is endemic to the region. Considering the little knowledge about the taxon in Brazil and the low number of specific collection expeditions, the high standard of endemism observed could be strongly modified with future advances in the study of the order.
description: Published as part of Krolow, Tiago Kütter, Szumik, Claudia & Rafael, José Albertino, 2024, An overview of the fauna of Embioptera (Insecta) in Brazil, pp. 1-12 in Zoologia (e 24015) (e 24015) 41 on pages 2-7, DOI: 10.1590/S1984-4689.v41.e24015, http://zenodo.org/record/14700041