Extinct disjunct population of Eunota togata (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) from the Atlantic coast may have been an ancient remnant, not a recent 20th century colonization

Abstract

The White-Cloaked Tiger Beetle, Eunota togata (LaFerté-Sénectère, 1841) (sensu stricto), is currently known from the Gulf coast of northern Mexico to western Florida. In the early 1900s, a highly disjunct population was known from the Atlantic coast in the Charleston, South Carolina area, but it appears to have disappeared around 1950. Multiple searches over recent decades have confirmed that the South Carolina population is likely extinct. This population may have represented a recent early 20th century colonization event or could have been the remnant of a more ancient population. We examined the morphometrics of eight characters and found that multiple body structures were significantly different between these South Carolina beetles and beetles from Florida and Texas, suggesting that the South Carolina population may be more anciently separated from Gulf populations. Alternatively, the larger eyes and longer bodies may indicate that they represent a dispersal morph, as seen in other insects, including tiger beetles, but not known to occur within the tribe Cicindelini. Additional questions remain as to why the South Carolina population was extirpated and whether other currently unknown populations exist along the Atlantic coast.