Phylogenetic reassessment and biogeography of theEctateusgeneric group (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Platynotina)

Abstract

Owing to the reinterpretation of its morphological synapomorphies, the taxonomic composition of the Ectateus generic group had been ambiguous. The present study scrutinized all existing taxonomic concepts of the group based on a cladistic analysis of the adult morphology of all of the Afrotropical platynotoid Platynotina genera. The phylogenetic relationships were reconstructed using parsimony and Bayesian inference. The results show that all previous taxonomic concepts of the Ectateus generic group concerned paraphyletic entities. The cladistic analysis revealed the following synapomorphies for the taxon: (1) presence of basal indentations of the pronotal disc, (2) ratio of prothorax width to its maximal height > 6.0, and (3) ratio of maximal height of the prothorax to total height < 0.3. Moreover, phylogenetic studies revealed the existence of the Upembarus generic group, a sister-taxon group to the Ectateus generic group, within the Afrotropical platynotoid Platynotina. Autapomorphic and synapomorphic character mapping show that several taxonomic and nomenclatural changes are needed to consider the particular generic-level entities traditionally assigned to Afrotropical platynotoid Platynotina as monophyletic lineages. The following taxonomic and nomenclatural adjustments are made in this paper: Pteroselinus gen. nov. is erected to accommodate a single species that was previously assigned to Zidalus: Pteroselinus insularis comb. nov. Additionally, the following synonymies are proposed: Anchophthalmops (= Platykochius syn. nov.), Angolositus (= Aberlencus syn. nov., = Platymedvedevia syn. nov.), Glyptopteryx (= Microselinus syn. nov., = Quadrideres syn. nov., = Synquadrideres syn. nov.). In addition, Kochogaster is lowered in rank and is treated as one of the subgenera of Anchophthalmus. Moreover, Pseudoselinus is treated as a subgenus of Upembarus. An identification key to all Afrotropical platynotoid Platynotina genera and subgenera is presented. Zoogeographical analyses revealed the following dispersal barriers for the Ectateus generic group: (1) the Sahara (northern barrier); (2) the dry ecosystems of Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa (southern barrier); and (3) the Congolian rainforests (internal distributional gap). The ancestor of the taxon probably originated in East African ecoregions that predominantly contained wattletrees (acacias) and Commiphora Jacq. Moreover, past climate changes seem to have had a great impact on the observed generic distribution.

Immature stages of beetles representing the ‘Opatrinoid’ clade (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae): an overview of current knowledge of the larval morphology and some resulting taxonomic notes on Blapstinina

“…The morphology of E. rudebecki larvae is highly consistent with that of the platynotoid and trigonopoid Platynotina (for definitions, see Iwan 2002, andKamiński 2015), i.e., Alaetrinus, Anchophthalmus, Bantodemus, Glyptopteryx, Opatrinus, and Zophodes (Table 1). This seems to also hold true for the undescribed larvae of Heteropsectropus (Schulze 1969); however, the material concerning this species was not realised here.…”

Reevaluation ofBlapimorpha and Opatrinae: addressing a major phylogeny‐classification gap in darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Blaptinae)

“…Darkling beetles (Tenebrionidae Latreille) represent one of the most diverse insect families, with over 20 000 described species (Matthews et al ., 2010). As a result of their worldwide distribution and common xerophily, darkling beetles have been used in a variety of biogeographic studies (Fattorini, 2002a,b; Fattorini & Fowles, 2005; Condamine et al, 2013; Kamiński, 2015; Kamiński et al ., 2018; Johnston, 2019). Currently, the family is subdivided into 10 subfamilies: the nine proposed in Matthews et al .…”

A taxonomic review of the genus Clitobius with description of a new species from Oman (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)

“…A trend for the widespread species to occur in distinct ecological conditions compared to their endemic congeners is common and has been reported for many groups of organisms (e.g. LAVERGNE et al 2004;KAMIŃSKI 2011KAMIŃSKI , 2015.…”