A preliminary phylogenetic analysis of Cerambycinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) focusing on four Palaearctic genera: Cerambyx, Isotomus, Ropalopus and Neoplagionotus

Abstract

Cerambycinae (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) is a highly diverse subfamily of longhorned beetles, recognized for its significant economic and ecological importance. However, its phylogenetic relationships, even in the less diverse and much better understood fauna of the Northern Hemisphere, remain underexplored. Our study presents a preliminary phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily with a focus on primarily Palaearctic genera Isotomus Mulsant, 1862, Neoplagionotus Kasatkin, 2005, and Ropalopus Mulsant, 1839, as well as the type genus of Cerambycidae, Cerambyx Linnaeus, 1758. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian Inference analyses were conducted utilising two mitochondrial markers, COI and 16S rRNA, and two divergent domains (D1 and D2) of a nuclear marker, 28S rRNA, for 129 termini, 35 of them first time presented in this study. According to our results, Cerambyx was found to be paraphyletic due to the inclusion of Pseudaeolesthes. Ropalopus clustered with Callidium, Oupyrrhidium, and Semanotus in a distinct group from Phymatodes and Pyrrhidium that supports polyphyly of Callidini. In the tribe Clytini, Neoplagionotus was sister to Echinocerus, and they were separated from Plagionotus. The type species of Isotomus, I. speciosus, was placed sister to Demonax.