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Exploring myrmecophily based on the phylogenetic interrelationships of F alagonia S harp, 1883 ( C oleoptera: S taphylinidae: A leocharinae) and allied genera
Author(s) -
SANTIAGOJIMÉNEZ QUIYARI J.,
ESPINOSA DE LOS MONTEROS ALEJANDRO
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
systematic entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.552
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1365-3113
pISSN - 0307-6970
DOI - 10.1111/syen.12191
Subject(s) - polyphyly , biology , phylogenetic tree , monophyly , synapomorphy , autapomorphy , phylogenetics , zoology , maximum parsimony , taxonomy (biology) , evolutionary biology , clade , genetics , gene
The taxonomy of L omechusini F leming has a complex history. Recent studies have shown that this group is polyphyletic; however, little is known about the evolutionary interrelationships among its constituent genera. The goals of the present study are to infer the phylogenetic relationships of F alagonia S harp and closely related genera; to define the boundaries of those genera based on synapomorphic characters; and to explore the evolution of myrmecophily within the lineage. The phylogenetic analyses are based exclusively on morphological characters of adults. A total of 36 operational taxonomic units were used for the analysis. The best trees were selected based on maximum parsimony and B ayesian inference. During the parsimony reconstruction, different weighting strategies were used to recover the most robust phylogenetic hypothesis. Although minor differences were observed in the results of the different analyses, the topologies were consistent throughout. Several groups of genera proposed by S eevers (1965), such as the ‘ T etradonia ’ and ‘ E citopora ’ groups, were not recovered. Thus, these may represent nonmonophyletic groups that were based on nonsynapomorphic diagnostic characters. Our analyses consistently recovered the genera A sheidium S antiago‐ J iménez, D elgadoidium S antiago‐ J iménez, F alagonia , N ewtonidium S antiago‐ J iménez, P seudofalagonia S antiago‐ J iménez, S harpidium S antiago‐ J iménez, T etradonia W asmann and T hayeridium S antiago‐ J iménez, forming a monophyletic group that we have called the ‘ A sheidium complex’. F alagonia mexicana S harp shows seven autapomorphies, none of which were used to establish the genus. Based on the phylogenetic results, myrmecophily has evolved independently at least three times within the lineage. This study, based on morphological characters, is one of the first approaches towards gaining an understanding of the phylogenetic relationships within the polyphyletic tribe L omechusini.