New molecular markers resolve the phylogenetic positionof the enigmatic wood-boring weevils Platypodinae(Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

摘要

The precise phylogenetic position of the weevil subfamily Platypodinae continues to be one of the more contentious issues inweevil systematics. Morphological features of adult beetles and similar ecological adaptations point towards a close relationship with thewood boring Scolytinae, while some recent molecular studies and larval morphology have indicated a closer relationship to Dryophthorinae. To test these opposing hypotheses, a molecular phylogeny was reconstructed using 5,966 nucleotides from ten gene fragments. Five ofthese genes are used for the frst time to explore beetle phylogeny, i.e. the nuclear protein coding genes PABP1, UBA5, Arr2, TPI, and Iap2,while fve markers have been used in earlier studies (28S, COI, CAD, ArgK, and EF-1α). Bayesian, maximum likelihood and parsimonyanalyses of the combined data strongly support a monophyletic Curculionidae (the advanced weevils with geniculate antennae), whereBrachycerinae, Platypodinae, and Dryophthorinae formed the earliest diverging groups. Dryophthorinae and core Platypodinae were sistergroups with high support, with the contentious genera Mecopelmus Blackman, 1944 and Coptonotus Chapuis, 1873 placed elsewhere.Other lineages of wood boring weevils such as Scolytinae, Cossoninae, and Conoderinae were part of a derived, but less resolved, cladeforming the sister group to Entiminae. Resolution among major curculionid subfamilies was ambiguous, emphasizing the need for largevolumes of data to further improve resolution in this most diverse section of the weevil tree.