The first phylogenetic inference of Calopterini and Eurrhacini focused on Calocladon and related taxa was carried out. A data matrix composed of 46 species and 51 morphological characters was assembled and analyzed using parsimony and model-based approaches. Eurrhacini were recovered monophyletic. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses highly supported the Calocladon clade including also Atlanticolycus, Cladocalon, and Gorhamium gen. nov. as its sister clade. Our trees consistently recovered monophyly of the new genus with two new species: Gorhamiumbidentatum sp. nov. (Panama, Baru Volcano) and G.unidentatum sp. nov. from the Pacific slopes of Ecuador. A revised key to the genera of Eurrhacini is given and illustrations of distinguishing characters are provided. Phylogenetic relationships of Eurrhacini and character evolution are discussed.

• Keywords
• Lycinae, Neotropical Region, new genus, new species,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Ancient aposematic signals might have evolved under different ecological circumstances. Using European Cenozoic amber and phylogenetic reconstruction, we evaluated the evolution of net-winged beetle aposematism. We describe Priabonian Hiekeolycus winkleri sp. nov. from Baltic amber, review known fossil species, and suggest earlier high diversity and morphological conservativeness of European Lycidae since the Eocene. We hypothesize the presence of red and black/red aposematic patterns in Eocene Europe. The analyses suggest the Oligocene to Miocene dispersal of additional species from East Asia and their advergence to autochthonous patterns. Recently dispersed lycids have retained similarities with their East Asian relatives. Net-winged beetles are rare in Europe after the Quaternary climatic oscillations, and we hypothesize a currently relaxed selection for shared aposematic signals. Neophobia, and eventually inborn rejection of brightly colored prey, putatively preserved ancient aposematism under changing conditions. Evidence from paleontology and phylogenetics can provide insight into the long-term persistence of old adaptations under changing conditions.

• Keywords
• Evolutionary biology, Paleobiology, Zoology,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

The elateroid family Lycidae is known for limited dispersal propensity and high species-level endemism. The red net-winged beetle, Dictyoptera aurora (Herbst, 1874), differs from all relatives by the range comprising almost the entire Holarctic region. Based on a five-marker phylogeny and 67 barcode entries (cox1-5' mtDNA) from the whole range, we recovered two genetically distinct species within traditionally defined D. aurora and resurrected the name D. coccinata (Say, 1835) as the oldest available synonym for Nearctic populations. Yet, no reliable morphological trait distinguishes these species except for minute differences in the male genitalia. D. coccinata is a monophylum resulting from a single Miocene dispersal event, ~15.8 million years ago, and genetic divergence implies long-term isolation by the Bering Strait. Far East Asian and west European populations are also genetically distinct, although to a lower extent. Two independent colonization events established the Fennoscandian populations after the last glacial maximum. Besides intrinsic factors, the high morphological similarity might result from stabilizing selection for shared aposematic signals. The rapidly accumulating barcode data provide valuable information on the evolutionary history and the origins of regional faunas.

• Keywords
• Müllerian mimicry, aposematic signal, barcode, cryptic species, dispersal, last glacial maximum, morphological stasis, mtDNA, rRNA, taxonomy,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Conservation efforts must be evidence-based, so rapid and economically feasible methods should be used to quantify diversity and distribution patterns. We have attempted to overcome current impediments to the gathering of biodiversity data by using integrative phylogenomic and three mtDNA fragment analyses. As a model, we sequenced the Metriorrhynchini beetle fauna, sampled from ~700 localities in three continents. The species-rich dataset included ~6500 terminals, ~ 1850 putative species delimited at 5% uncorrected pairwise threshold, possibly ~1000 of them unknown to science. Neither type of data could alone answer our questions on biodiversity and phylogeny. The phylogenomic backbone enabled the integrative delimitation of robustly defined natural genus-group units that will inform future research. Using constrained mtDNA analysis, we identified the spatial structure of species diversity, very high species-level endemism, and a biodiversity hotspot in New Guinea. We suggest that focused field research and subsequent laboratory and bioinformatic workflow steps would substantially accelerate the inventorying of any hyperdiverse tropical group with several thousand species. The outcome would be a scaffold for the incorporation of further data from environmental sequencing and ecological studies. The database of sequences could set a benchmark for the spatiotemporal evaluation of biodiversity, would support evidence-based conservation planning, and would provide a robust framework for systematic, biogeographic, and evolutionary studies.

• Keywords
• biodiversity, conservation, ecology, evolutionary biology, mtDNA, net-winged beetles, phylogenomics,
• MeSH
• Biodiversity * MeSH
• Biological Evolution MeSH
• Coleoptera classification   genetics   MeSH
• Phylogeny * MeSH
• DNA, Mitochondrial genetics   MeSH
• Gene Expression Profiling MeSH
• Tropical Climate MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• New Guinea MeSH
• Names of Substances
• DNA, Mitochondrial MeSH

Biologists have reported on the chemical defences and the phenetic similarity of net-winged beetles (Coleoptera: Lycidae) and their co-mimics. Nevertheless, our knowledge has remained fragmental, and the evolution of mimetic patterns has not been studied in the phylogenetic context. We illustrate the general appearance of ~ 600 lycid species and ~ 200 co-mimics and their distribution. Further, we assemble the phylogeny using the transcriptomic backbone and ~ 570 species. Using phylogenetic information, we closely scrutinise the relationships among aposematically coloured species, the worldwide diversity, and the distribution of aposematic patterns. The emitted visual signals differ in conspicuousness. The uniform coloured dorsum is ancestral and was followed by the evolution of bicoloured forms. The mottled patterns, i.e. fasciate, striate, punctate, and reticulate, originated later in the course of evolution. The highest number of sympatrically occurring patterns was recovered in New Guinea and the Andean mountain ecosystems (the areas of the highest abundance), and in continental South East Asia (an area of moderate abundance but high in phylogenetic diversity). Consequently, a large number of co-existing aposematic patterns in a single region and/or locality is the rule, in contrast with the theoretical prediction, and predators do not face a simple model-like choice but cope with complex mimetic communities. Lycids display an ancestral aposematic signal even though they sympatrically occur with differently coloured unprofitable relatives. We show that the highly conspicuous patterns evolve within communities predominantly formed by less conspicuous Müllerian mimics and, and often only a single species displays a novel pattern. Our work is a forerunner to the detailed research into the aposematic signalling of net-winged beetles.

• MeSH
• Bayes Theorem MeSH
• Biodiversity * MeSH
• Biological Evolution MeSH
• Coleoptera anatomy & histology   classification   physiology   MeSH
• Phenotype MeSH
• Phylogeny * MeSH
• Phylogeography * MeSH
• Population Density MeSH
• Quantitative Trait, Heritable MeSH
• Biological Mimicry * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

We reviewed the species-level classification of Metriorrhynchina net-winged beetles to make the group accessible for further studies. Altogether, 876 valid species are listed in a checklist along with known synonyms, combinations, and distribution data. The compilation of geographic distribution showed that Metriorrhynchina is distributed mainly in the Australian region with very high diversity in the islands at the northern edge of the Australian craton, i.e., in the Moluccas and New Guinea (54 and 423 spp. respectively). The neighboring northern part of the Australian continent houses a majority of known Australian species (112 spp.) and the diversity of net-winged beetles gradually decreases to the south (43 spp.). The fauna of Sulawesi is highly endemic at the generic level (4 of 10 genera, 67 of 84 spp.). Less Metriorrhynchina occur in the Solomon Islands and Oceania (in total 22 spp.). The Oriental Metriorrhynchina fauna consists of a few genera and a limited number of species, and most of these are known from the Philippines (51 of 94 Oriental spp.). We identified a high species level turn-over between all neighboring landmasses. The genus-level endemism is high in Sulawesi (4 genera) and New Guinea (11 genera), but only a single genus is endemic to Australia. During the compilation of the checklist, we identified some homonyms, and we propose the following replacement names and a new synonym: Metriorrhynchus pseudobasalis, nom. nov. for M. basalis Lea, 1921 nec M. basalis Bourgeois, 1911; Metriorrhynchus pseudofunestus, nom. nov. for M. funestus Lea, 1921 nec M. funestus (Guérin-Méneville, 1838), Trichalus pseudoternatensis, nom. nov. for T. ternatensis Kleine, 1930 nec T. ternatensis Bourgeois, 1900, Procautires subparallelus, nom. nov. for P. parallelus (Pic, 1926) nec P. parallelus (Bourgeois, 1883), and Cautires pseudocorporaali, nom. nov. for C. corporaali (Pic, 1921: 12), (formerly Odontocerus and Cladophorus) nec C. corporaali (Pic, 1921) (formerly Bulenides, later Cautires). Diatrichalus biroi Kleine, 1943, syn. nov. is proposed as a junior subjective synonym of D. subarcuatithorax (Pic, 1926). Altogether, 161 new combinations are proposed, and 47 species earlier placed in Xylobanus Waterhouse, 1879 transferred from Cautirina to Metriorrhynchina incertae sedis. The study clarifies the taxonomy of Metriorrhynchini and should serve as a restarting point for further taxonomic, evolutionary, and biogeographic studies.

• Keywords
• Australian region, distribution, diversity centers, endemism, new combinations, new names, taxonomy,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Mimicry is a hot spot of evolutionary research, but de novo origins of aposematic patterns, the persistence of multiple patterns in Müllerian communities, and the persistence of imperfect mimics still need to be investigated. Local mimetic assemblages can contain up to a hundred of species, their structure can be a result of multiple dispersal events, and the gradual build-up of the communities. Here, we investigate the structure of lowland and mountain mimetic communities of net-winged beetles by sampling the Crocker Range in north-eastern Borneo and neighbouring regions. The local endemics evolved from the Bornean lowland fauna which is highly endemic at the species level. We inferred that metriorrhynchine net-winged beetles evolved in high elevations yellow/black and reticulate aposematic high-contrast signals from a widespread low-contrast brown/black pattern. As the mountain range is ~ 6 million years old, and these patterns do not occur elsewhere, we assume their in situ origins. We demonstrate that a signal with increased internal contrast can evolve de novo in a mimetic community and can persist despite its low frequency. Additionally, a similar aposematic signal evolves from different structures and its similarity is imperfect. The community with multiple patterns sets conditions for the evolution of aposematic sexual dimorphism as demonstrated by the yellow/black male and reticulate female pattern of Micronychus pardus. These insights elucidate the complex character of the evolution of mimetic signalling in the dynamically diversifying biota of high tropical mountains.

• MeSH
• Color MeSH
• Biological Evolution * MeSH
• Coleoptera anatomy & histology   physiology   MeSH
• Wings, Animal anatomy & histology   physiology   MeSH
• Biological Mimicry * MeSH
• Sex Characteristics * MeSH
• Animal Distribution MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Borneo MeSH

We investigated the spatial and temporal patterns of Cautires diversification on the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra to understand if the narrow and frequently dry Malacca Strait separates different faunas. Moreover, we analyzed the origin of Cautires in Malayan and Sumatran mountains. We sampled 18 localities and present the mtDNA-based phylogeny of 76 species represented by 388 individuals. The phylogenetic tree was dated using mtDNA evolution rates and the ancestral ranges were estimated using the maximum likelihood approach. The phylogeny identified multiple lineages on the Malay Peninsula since the Upper Eocene (35 million years ago, mya) and a delayed evolution of diversity in Sumatra since the Upper Oligocene (26 mya). A limited number of colonization events across the Malacca Strait was identified up to the Pliocene and more intensive faunal exchange since the Pleistocene. The early colonization events were commonly followed by in situ diversification. As a result, the Malacca Strait now separates two faunas with a high species-level turnover. The montane fauna diversified in a limited space and seldom took part in colonization events across the Strait. Besides isolation by open sea or a savannah corridor, mimetic patterns could decrease the colonization capacity of Cautires. The Malay fauna is phylogenetically more diverse and has a higher value if conservation priorities should be defined.

• Keywords
• Colonization, Mimicry, Molecular phylogeny, Oriental region,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH