Yumtaax Boucher (Coleoptera: Passalidae) is an endemic genus from the temperate sierras of Mexico and includes six narrowly distributed species. Yumtaax species have been assigned to several genera of Passalidae throughout history, and a phylogenetic approach is necessary to understand species delimitation and interspecific relationships. This study reconstructed the molecular phylogeny of six Yumtaax morphotypes using parsimony and Bayesian analysis of DNA sequence data from the ribosomal nuclear gene region 28S and the mitochondrial gene regions 12S and cytochrome oxidase I (COI) in addition to morphological characters. Analyses recovered two well-supported Yumtaax clades (the Yumtaax laticornis and Yumtaax imbellis clades) that are possible sister lineages. One synapomorphic morphological character state and the geographic isolation of the group provide corroborative evidence for monophyly. Molecular phylogenetic analyses and traditional morphological examinations also resulted in the discovery of two undescribed Yumtaax species and the discovery of two separate evolutionary lineages (cryptic species) within Yumtaax recticornis. As a result we describe three new species (Yumtaax veracrucensis Beza-Beza, Reyes-Castillo & Jameson, sp. n., Yumtaax cameliae Beza-Beza, Reyes-Castillo & Jameson, sp. n., and Yumtaax jimenezi Beza-Beza, Reyes-Castillo & Jameson, sp. n.), redescribe two species (Yumtaax recticornis [Burmeister 1847] and Yumtaax laticornis [Truqui 1857]), and provide a key to all nine Yumtaax species. This study is one of two studies to use molecular data to evaluate the evolutionary relationships of a genus of Bess Beetles (Passalidae), an ecologically important insect group exhibiting low morphological variability and heretofore lacking molecular phylogenetic study.
Keywords: Passalidae; Yumtaax; phylogeny; species description.