Systematic Entomology最新文献

Philonthina (2864 species in 74 genera) represents almost one-half of the diversity of Staphylinini and is the largest of its subtribes. Most Philonthina species are found in tropical areas, but the origin of this diversity is still not well understood, mainly because their systematics belongs to a past era of taxonomy. Such is the case of a group of genera, most of them endemic to the Neotropical region (NT), whose monophyly has been repeatedly confirmed and which constitutes the so-called Neotropical lineage (NL). However, basal relationships have not been clarified, neither for Philonthina nor its NL. The NL includes ∼300 species and 26 genera, but two of them (Belonuchus Nordmann and Paederomimus Sharp) account for two-thirds of its species. Here, using the largest molecular-based phylogeny of Philonthina and its NL to date, a time-calibrated phylogeny, and ancestral range reconstructions for the NL, we explore the evolutionary history of Philonthina with a focus on its NL to reveal their early evolution and diversification in the NT. We show that Philonthina originated during the Late Cretaceous ∼ 67.6 Ma and diversified into five main lineages mostly during the Eocene. The NL originated in northwestern South America (SA) and the Andes not earlier than 64.2 Ma from a Laurasian lineage present in SA ∼49.1–69.9 Ma. Shortly afterward, that is, 39.9–56.9 Ma, the NL diversified into the Andean clade and the most species-rich Belonuchus-Paederomimus group. Our analyses recover northwestern SA and the Andes as the primary centers of diversification. Dispersal events to the northern landmasses took place at least three times during the Miocene in the early evolution of the NL.

Mitochondrial (mtDNA) genes have served as widely utilised genetic loci for phylogenetic and phylogeographic studies of animals. However, the phylogenetic performance of many mtDNA genes has not been empirically evaluated across lineages within hymenopteran wasps. To address this question, we assembled and analysed mitogenomic data from social wasps, representing the four recognised tribes of Polistinae and all Epiponini genera. Additionally, we evaluated whether mtDNA gene order in Polistinae is congruent with its tribal classification. Using concatenation phylogenetic methods, we show phylogenetic congruence between mitogenomic and nuclear data. Statistically comparing the phylogenetic performance of individual mtDNA genes, we demonstrate that for social wasps the molecular markers COI, 16S, NAD5, and NAD2 perform best, while ATP6, COII, and 12S show the worst results. Finally, we verified that the tRNA cluster close to the noncoding region is a hotspot of genetic rearrangements in Vespidae and can be used as additional information for the systematics of this group. Together, these results indicate that mitogenomes contain robust phylogenetic signal to elucidate the evolutionary history of Vespidae. Moreover, our study identifies the best choice of mtDNA markers for systematic investigations of social wasps.

Scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) are a diverse and ecologically important group of angiosperm-associated insects. As conventionally understood, scarab beetles comprise two major lineages: dung beetles and the phytophagous Pleurosticti. However, previous phylogenetic analyses have not been able to convincingly answer the question whether or not the two lineages form a monophyletic group. Here, we report our results from phylogenetic analyses of more than 4000 genes mined from transcriptomes of more than 50 species of Scarabaeidae and other Scarabaeoidea. Our results provide convincing support for the monophyly of Scarabaeidae, confirming the debated sister group relationship of dung beetles and phytophagous pleurostict scarabs. Supermatrix-based maximum likelihood and multispecies coalescent phylogenetic analyses strongly imply the subfamily Melolonthinae as currently understood being paraphyletic. We consequently suggest various changes in the systematics of Melolonthinae: Sericinae Kirby, 1837 stat. rest. and sensu n. to include the tribes Ablaberini, Diphucephalini and Sericini, and Sericoidinae Erichson, 1847 stat. rest. and sensu n. to include the tribes Automoliini, Heteronychini, Liparetrini, Maechidiini, Phyllotocini, Scitalini, and Sericoidini. Both subfamilies appear to consistently form a monophyletic sister group to all remaining subfamilies so far included within pleurostict scarabs except Orphninae. Our results represent a major step towards understanding the diversification history of one of the largest angiosperm-associated radiations of beetles.

Web-building spiders are formidable predators, yet assassin bugs in the Emesine Complex (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae, Saicinae, and Visayanocorinae) prey on spiders. The Emesine Complex comprises >1000 species and these web-associated predatory strategies may have driven their diversification. However, lack of natural history data and a robust phylogenetic framework currently preclude tests of this hypothesis. We combine Sanger (207 taxa, 3865 bp) and high-throughput sequencing data (15 taxa, 381 loci) to generate the first taxon- and data-rich phylogeny for this group. We discover rampant paraphyly among subfamilies and tribes, necessitating revisions to the classification. We use ancestral character state reconstructions for 40 morphological characters to identify diagnostic features for a revised classification. Our new classification treats Saicinae Stål and Visayanocorinae Miller as junior synonyms of Emesinae Amyot and Serville, synonymizes the emesine tribes Ploiariolini Van Duzee and Metapterini Stål with Emesini Amyot and Serville, and recognises six tribes within Emesinae (Collartidini Wygodzinsky, Emesini, Leistarchini Stål, Oncerotrachelini trib.n., Saicini Stål stat.n., and Visayanocorini Miller stat.n.). We show that a pretarsal structure putatively involved in web-associated behaviours evolved in the last common ancestor of Emesini, the most species-rich clade within Emesinae, suggesting that web-associations could be widespread in Emesinae.

The monophyletic status of the genus Oreina as well as its phylogenetic relation to the closely related genera Chrysolina, Crosita and Cyrtonus has been debated for several decades. To assess the status of the genus and understand its evolutionary history, we performed a museomics study on 148 museum specimens belonging to 25 of the 28 described Oreina species as well as 19 other chrysomelid species, mainly from the genus Chrysolina. Using innovative molecular methods relying on hyRAD hybridization capture, we succeeded in recovering 2235 shared nuclear loci. Phylogenomic analyses clearly demonstrated that Oreina species form a clade separated from Chrysolina. These analyses also revealed the position of Chrysolina fastuosa outside of the genus Chrysolina, supporting the following taxonomic status updates: Fasta stat. rev., Fasta fastuosa comb. nov. Within the genus Oreina, we further propose the synonymization of Oreina (Frigidorina) syn. n. and Oreina (Virgulatorina) syn. n. with Oreina (Chrysochloa). Divergence time and ancestral range estimations suggested that Oreina originated approximately 53 Ma in the Alps. Ancestral host plant reconstruction revealed key shifts during Oreina diversification. Overall, our study reinforces the importance of museum collections for molecular analysis and the effectiveness of hybridization capture approaches for conducting phylogenomic studies and finely investigating controversial taxonomic debates.

Underwing moths in the genus Catocala Schrank are among the most charismatic of Lepidoptera. Catocala is also one of the most diverse genera worldwide in the speciose family Erebidae, but a phylogenetic framework for the genus is lacking. Here we reconstruct the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny for the genus based on 685 anchored hybrid enrichment loci sampled from 161 Catocala species (99 Nearctic, 62 Palearctic), four species of Ulotrichopus Wallengren and 33 outgroups. Phylogenetic analysis unambiguously recovers Catocala and Catocala + Ulotrichopus as monophyletic with strong support and resolves many backbone relationships within Catocala. Our results confirm the classification of previously proposed taxonomic subgroups of Catocala, including seven based on recent molecular/morphological evidence, and ten based on early twentieth-century morphological research. Mapping of larval host plant use onto the tree shows Fabaceae to be the likely ancestral host plant family for Catocala and Catocala + Ulotrichopus. There appear to have been at least 18 independent larval host plant shifts to nine plant families, the most common shift being from Fabaceae to Fagaceae. Larval host plant use has likely played an important role in the evolutionary history of Catocala, with several rapid diversification events propelled by shifts to novel larval host plants, particularly in the North American Catocala fauna.

Palparine and palparidiine antlions constitute an emblematic clade of large and occasionally colourful insects that are only distributed in the western portion of the Eastern hemisphere, with about half of the known species diversity occurring exclusively in Southern Africa. Little is known about their evolutionary history, and the boundaries and relationships of most genera are still unresolved. In this study, we analyse a molecular dataset consisting of seven loci (five mitochondrial and two nuclear genes) for 144 antlion species and provide the first phylogenetic hypothesis for a representative sampling of Palparini and Palparidiini (62 Palparini species, representing 15 of the 17 known genera, and all three known Palparidiini species). In addition, we reconstruct their timing of diversification and historical biogeography. The resulting tree indicates that several extant palparine genera are polyphyletic or paraphyletic and provides interesting leads that ought to be helpful for future taxonomic revisions; it also enables us to re-evaluate the taxonomic utility and relevancy of a number of morphological characters that were previously used to define some genera. Molecular dating analyses indicate that the most recent common ancestor of both groups originated about 92 million years ago (Ma) in the Late Cretaceous. Finally, the results of historical biogeography analyses provide strong support for an origin in Southern Africa, which further acted as both a cradle of diversification and a springboard for successive waves of northern dispersals.

In the present work, we describe a new fossil family of Apoidea supported by phylogenetic analyses involving both fossil and extant groups. †Burmasphecidae fam.n. is based on †Burmasphex Melo & Rosa, a genus described from Burmese amber. We include in this family the monotypic genus †Decasphex Zheng, Zhang & Rasnitsyn also from Burmese amber. Additionally, we describe two new genera and four new species in †Burmasphecidae fam.n.: †Burmasphex mirabilis sp.n.; †Simplisphex gen.n., containing S. scutellatus sp.n. and †S. burmensis sp.n.; and †Callisphex robustus gen. et sp.n. In our phylogenetic study, we extended a pre-existing matrix of morphological data and analysed it under parsimony and Bayesian inference. In the Bayesian inference analyses, the morphological dataset was partitioned under a homoplasy criterion. We postulate the first phylogenetic hypotheses for the placement of †Angarosphecidae based on the type species, †Angarosphex myrmicopterus Rasnitsyn, plus a new Burmese amber taxon, †A. alethes sp.n. We demonstrate that †Burmasphecidae fam.n. clearly belongs to Apoidea and has a sister relationship with the other representatives of the superfamily. Our results indicate that †Burmasphecidae fam.n. and †Angarosphecidae are distinct lineages, with the second clearly more derived than the first. We discuss the phylogenetic relationships of these fossil lineages with extant groups of both Apoidea and other Aculeata, and present morphological evidence for the first time supporting the Formicidae + Apoidea clade. Finally, we indicate some considerations about the paleoenvironment and the nature of the Burmese amber biota, suggesting an alternative hypothesis to the island endemism described in previous works.

Mantodea is a predatory insect group, its members occupying a diverse array of widely distributed habitats. Praying mantis species utilize hunting strategies including remarkable mimicry and unique camouflage for hiding from natural enemies while catching their prey. The emergence of a “cyclopean ear” in mantises is thought to be a morphological innovation of the group, and an “arms race” with echolocating bats is one of the hypotheses put forward to account for the emergence of the mantis ear from a coevolutionary perspective. However, this hypothesis has not been rigorously tested because of a lack of robust higher-level phylogeny and a detailed chronogram of Mantodea. Previous phylogenetic studies found an incongruence between traditional classification and molecular phylogenetics due to the convergent evolution of various ecomorphic strategies of the lineage. Here, we performed a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Mantodea based on data from 61 mitogenomes. Our analyses showed that the monophyly of Acanthopidae, Haaniidae, Nanomantidae, Miomantidae and Mantidea was supported. The newly updated Gonypetidae were paraphyletic, whereas Eremiaphilidae, Deroplatyidae and Toxoderidae were polyphyletic. Our molecular dating analyses inferred that Spinomantodea originated at ca. 149 Ma (Late Jurassic), whereas the origin of hearing mantises (Cernomantodea) was inferred as Early Cretaceous (119 Ma, 95% CI: 110–129 Ma). The molecular dating results indicated that the hearing organ in mantises did not arise in response to bat predation. Our study provides a robust framework for further evolutionary comparative studies of mantises.

Geometrid moths, the second largest radiation of Lepidoptera, have been the target of extensive phylogenetic studies. Those studies have flagged several problems in tree topology that have remained unanswered. We address three of those: (i) deep nodes of Geometridae (subfamilies Sterrhinae + Larentiinae, or Sterrhinae alone as sister to all other subfamilies), (ii) the taxonomic status of subfamily Orthostixinae and (iii) the systematic position of the genus Eumelea (classified in Desmobathrinae: Eumeleini or incertae sedis earlier). We address these questions by using a phylogenomic approach, a novel method on these moths, with up to 1000 protein-coding genes extracted from whole-genome shotgun sequencing data. Our datasets include representatives from all geometrid subfamilies and we analyse the data by using three different tree search strategies: partitioned models, GHOST model and multispecies coalescent analysis. Despite the extensive data, we found incongruences in tree topologies. Eumelea did not associate with Desmobathrinae as suggested earlier, but instead, it was recovered in three different phylogenetic positions, either as sister to Oenochrominae, Geometrinae or as sister to Oenochrominae + Geometrinae. Orthostixinae, represented by its type species, falls within Desmobathrinae. We propose the following taxonomic changes: we raise Eumeleini to subfamily rank as Eumeleinae stat. nov. and we treat Orthostixinae as a junior synonym of Desmobathrinae syn. nov.