Abstract.Here we present a phylogeny of beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) based on DNA sequence data from eight nuclear genes, including six single-copy nuclear protein-coding genes, for 367 species representing 172 of 183 extant families. Our results refine existing knowledge of relationships among major groups of beetles. Strepsiptera was confirmed as sister to Coleoptera and each of the suborders of Coleoptera was recovered as monophyletic. Interrelationships among the suborders, namely Polyphaga (Adephaga (Archostemata, Myxophaga)), in our study differ from previous studies. Adephaga comprised two clades corresponding to Hydradephaga and Geadephaga. The series and superfamilies of Polyphaga were mostly monophyletic. The traditional Cucujoidea were recovered in three distantly related clades. Lymexyloidea was recovered within Tenebrionoidea. Several of the series and superfamilies of Polyphaga received moderate to maximal clade support in most analyses, for example Buprestoidea, Chrysomeloidea, Coccinelloidea, Cucujiformia, Curculionoidea, Dascilloidea, Elateroidea, Histeroidea and Hydrophiloidea. However, many of the relationships within Polyphaga lacked compatible resolution under maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference, and/or lacked consistently strong nodal support. Overall, we recovered slightly younger estimated divergence times than previous studies for most groups of beetles. The ordinal split between Coleoptera and Strepsiptera was estimated to have occurred in the Early Permian. Crown Coleoptera appeared in the Late Permian, and only one or two lineages survived the end-Permian mass extinction, with stem group representatives of all four suborders appearing by the end of the Triassic. The basal split in Polyphaga was estimated to have occurred in the Triassic, with the stem groups of most series and superfamilies originating during the Triassic or Jurassic. Most extant families of beetles were estimated to have Cretaceous origins. Overall, Coleoptera experienced an increase in diversification rate compared to the rest of Neuropteroidea. Furthermore, 10 family-level clades, all in suborder Polyphaga, were identified as having experienced significant increases in diversification rate. These include most beetle species with phytophagous habits, but also several groups not typically or primarily associated with plants. Most of these groups originated in the Cretaceous, which is also when a majority of the most species-rich beetle families first appeared. An additional 12 clades showed evidence for significant decreases in diversification rate. These clades are species-poor in the Modern fauna, but collectively exhibit diverse trophic habits. The apparent success of beetles, as measured by species numbers, may result from their associations with widespread and diverse substrates -especially plants, but also including fungi, wood and leaf litter -but what facilitated these associations in the first place or has allowed these associations to flourish likely varies within and between lineages. Our results pr...

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Estimators of the number of additional species expected in the next ⌬n samples offer a potentially important tool for improving cost-effectiveness of species inventories but are largely untested. We used Monte Carlo methods to compare 11 such estimators, across a range of community structures and sampling regimes, and validated our results, where possible, using empirical data from vascular plant and beetle inventories from Glacier National Park, Montana, USA. We found that B. Efron and R. Thisted's 1976 negative binomial estimator was most robust to differences in community structure and that it was among the most accurate estimators when sampling was from model communities with structures resembling the large, heterogeneous communities that are the likely targets of major inventory efforts. Other estimators may be preferred under specific conditions, however. For example, when sampling was from model communities with highly even species-abundance distributions, estimates based on the Michaelis-Menten model were most accurate; when sampling was from moderately even model communities with S ϭ 10 species or communities with highly uneven species-abundance distributions, estimates based on Gleason's (1922) species-area model were most accurate. We suggest that use of such methods in species inventories can help improve cost-effectiveness by providing an objective basis for redirecting sampling to more-productive sites, methods, or time periods as the expectation of detecting additional species becomes unacceptably low.

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Montana supports a diverse assemblage of bumble bees (Bombus Latreille) due to its size, landscape diversity, and location at the junction of known geographic ranges of North American species. We compiled the first inventory of Bombus species in Montana, using records from 25 natural history collections and labs engaged in bee research, collected over the past 125 years, as well as specimens collected specifically for this project during the summer of 2015. Over 12,000 records are included, with 28 species of Bombus now confirmed in the state. Based on information from nearby regions, four additional species are predicted to occur in Montana. Of the 28 species, Bombus bimaculatus Cresson and Bombus borealis Kirby are new state records. The presence of B. borealis was previously predicted, but the presence of B. bimaculatus in Montana represents a substantial extension of its previously reported range. Four additional "eastern" bumble bee species are recorded from the state, and three species pairs thought to replace one another from the eastern to western United States are now known to be sympatric in Montana. Additionally, our data are consistent with reported declines in populations of Bombus occidentalis Greene and Bombus suckleyi Greene, highlighting a need for targeted surveys of these two species in Montana.

Economically important species of wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae) were successfully associated with adults using cytochrome oxidase I (COI) barcoding, proving the usefulness of this technique to associate life stages in taxonomically difficult pest groups. Previously unrecognized and morphologically difficult, even indistinguishable, pest larvae were shown to be identifiable using this technique. This is a critical step toward discovering effective species-based integrated pest management strategies for this resurgent pest group following the loss of Lindane seed treatments. Three new adult-larval associations were discovered for Hadromorphus callidus (Brown), Hemicrepidius carbonatus (LeConte) and Metanomus insidiosus (LeConte). Hypnoidus bicolor (Eschscholtz) was shown to comprise multiple divergent lineages at a level usually considered different species, indicating that the population structure of some pest species requires more investigation. The status of the prairie grain wireworm, Selatosomus destructor (Brown), as a full species or as a subspecies of Selatosomus aeripennis (Kirby) is called into question.

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