A backbone Phylogeny of Curculionidae from adult and larval morphology: Where do we stand after improving taxon and character sampling?

MARVALDI, A.E.; CLARKE, D. J.; OBERPRIELER, R, G.; ALONSO-ZARAZAGA, M.A.; ANDERSON, R. S.; CALDARA, R.; DAVIS, S.; HULCR, J.; JOHNSON, A.J.; LANTERI, A.A.; LYAL, C.H.C.; MEREGALLI, M.; WANAT, M.; MCKENNA, D.D.

Congreso; XXV International Congress of Entomology; 2016

Introduction: The Curculionidae constitute the most diverse family of Coleoptera, and recognition of its main subclades (natural subfamilies/tribes) remains challenging. One main objective of the 1K Weevil project is to perform a cladistic analysis of the weevils based on morphological characters so as to yield a robust estimate of curculionid phylogeny and provide a framework for testing hypotheses about the evolution of the characteristic adult and larval structures of the family. We here present a backbone morphological phylogeny estimate of the Curculionidae.Methods: We performed a cladistic analysis including as terminals species representatives of genera in all subfamilies and many current tribes, plus outgroups. The main criteria of taxon sampling were: taxa are phylogenetically important, spanning basal splits or deep branches; type genera are included; material is available for scoring adult and larval characters and for DNA sequencing. Characters were scored from external and internal structures of adults of both sexes as well as of larvae.Results/Conclusion: The family Curculionidae is a robust clade, defined by both adult and larval synapomorphies; the genera currently placed in Brachycerinae (including Erirhininae) form at least three groups in a paraphyletic sequence at the base of Curculionidae; the Dryophthorinae and Platypodinae (including Mecopelmus) are closely related subfamilies; the remaining curculionids (with pedal type of male genitalia) form two large sister clades, one including most broad-nosed weevils (Entiminae, Cyclominae and allies), with predominantly ectophytic larvae, and the other the rest of the family (from Curculioninae to Scolytinae), with an oviposition rostrum and endophytic larvae.