Evolutionary history of the Coleoptera Phytophaga

OBERPRIELER, R. G.; DUCKETT, C. N.; MARVALDI, A. E.

Brisbane, Australia

Congreso; XXII International Congress of Entomology; 2004

The results of the Symposium are summarized into a reconstruction of the evolution of the Coleoptera Phytophaga, the largest and most successful group of beetles. The combined phylogeny of the group is correlated with its fossil record, host associations and distribution pattern into a reconstruction of the likely events of diversification and extinction, niche shifts and geographical radiations that shaped the evolution of this beetle group. It appears that the Phytophaga originated in the late Mesozoic (perhaps the early Jurassic), experienced a first diversification event in association with conifers in the late Jurassic, underwent a significant lineage turnover event (extinction of older lineages and evolution of new, more advanced forms) in the late Early Cretaceous in correlation with the floristic turnover from gymnosperms to angiosperms, diversified again in the Late Cretaceous in association with monocotyledons and underwent their most phenomenal radiation on eudicots in the Tertiary. Reverse host shifts from angiosperms to conifers and other gymnosperms, and from eudicots to monocots, have occurred frequently. Indications are that the differentiation between chrysomeloids and curculionoids has been driven by a fundamental difference in larval biology (ectophyty versus endophyty), which appears to have evolved early in the evolutionary history of the group.