Phylogeny of water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) based on the study of traditional morphology and the sensory system of larvae

RODRIGUEZ, GEORGINA; URCOLA, JUAN I.; ARCHANGELSKY, MIGUEL; TORRES, PATRICIA L. M.

Congreso; Immature Beetles Meeting 2021; 2021

Larvae of water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydro- philidae) are adapted to a wide variety of aquatic habitats, and this diversity is reflected by both morphology and the sensory system. The study of Hydrophilidae larvae has pro- ven to be a source of reliable characters at different taxono- mic 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. Resultingdata matrix was analyzed using parsimony under implied weights (K=20). Hydrophilidae was recovered as mono- phyletic 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, Hydrobiu- sini, 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 relatively high support.