Phylogeny of the Coleoptera Phytophaga

MARVALDI, A. E.; DUCKETT, C. N.; LYAL, C. H. C.; REID, C. A. M.

Brisbane, Australia

Congreso; XXII International Congress of Entomology; 2004

A phylogeny of the Coleopteran Phytophaga is presented and discusssed. Characters from adult, larval morphology and ribosomal DNA sequences from 18S and for a reduced taxon set 28S, are used to reconstruct a phylogeny of the Phytophaga, using exemplars from taxonomically critical lineages. The inclusion of outgroup taxa representing other polyphagan beetles allows a test on the monophyly of Phytophaga and the sister group relationship of Curculionoidea and Chrysomeloidea, providing clues about their evolutionary origin and which could be the closest relatives of Phytophaga. Analyses based on differing homology assessments of molecular data (alignments) will be discussed. The contribution of separate data sources from morphology and each molecular marker to phylogenetic reconstruction is addressed.