CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Larvae of water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) are adapted to a wide variety of aquatic habitats, and this diversity is refl ected by both morphology and the sensory system. The study of Hydrophilidae larvae has proven to be a source of reliable characters at diff erent taxonomic levels. However, most of these analyses focus on small groups such as subfamilies or tribes (e.g. Archangelsky 2004, 2008; Archangelsky et al. 2020; Minoshima et al. 2013). Here we assessed the higher-level relationships of water scavenger beetles based on larval characters. With this purpose, a phylogenetic analysis of 329 characters (179 derived from sensory system, 143 morphological, 7 ecological) scored for 103 taxa was performed. Resulting data matrix was analyzed using parsimony under implied weights (K=20). Hydrophilidae was recovered as monophyletic with high statistical support, which is consistent with previous molecular and morphological studies. Subfamilies and tribal relationships usually showed weak support, except for a few well-supported clades such as Acidocerinae and Enochrinae, Hydrophilini, Hydrobiusini, Megasternini, and some groups of genera. The tribe Laccobini was non-monophiletic. The Paracymus and Tormus genera of the Paracymus-group were found nested within Chaetarthriini with low support, and Tritonus was recovered as a sister group to Hydrobiusini with relativelyhigh support. The phylogeny of the family was difficult to reconstruct due to the combined eff ect of convergent evolution and the number of derived character states given the selective pressure of the environment. These two conditions aff ect clade relationships, especially at subfamily and tribe level. However, many characters derived from the external sensory system or from traditional morphology have proven useful in defi ning the relationships between certain groups.

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