The click beetles (Elateridae) represent the major and well-known group of the polyphagan superfamily Elateroidea. Despite a relatively rich fossil record of Mesozoic Elateridae, only a few species are described from the Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber. Although Elateridae spend most of their lives as larvae, our knowledge on immature stages of this family is limited, which is especially valid for the fossils. So far, only a single larval click beetle has been reported from Burmese amber. Here, we describe two larval specimens from the same deposit which based on their morphology unambiguously belong to the predominantly Southern Hemisphere subfamily Pityobiinae, being the most similar to the representatives of tribe Tibionemini. However, since the larvae of the closely related bioluminescent Campyloxenini have not yet been described, we place our specimens to Tibionemini only tentatively. One species of Pityobiinae was recently described from Burmese amber based on adults, and we discuss if it can be congeneric with the here-reported larvae. Recent representatives of the Tibionemini + Campyloxenini clade are known from South America and New Zealand, and this group is hypothesized to have a Gondwanan origin. Hence, the newly discovered Burmese amber larvae may further contribute to a recently highly debated hypothesis that biota of the resin-producing forest on the Burma Terrane, which was probably an island drifting northward at the time of amber deposition, had at least partly Gondwanan affinities. The discovery of enigmatic click beetle larvae in the Upper Cretaceous Burmese amber sheds further light on the palaeodiversity and distribution of the relatively species-poor Gondwanan clade of click beetles, which contain a recent bioluminescent lineage, as well as on the taxonomic composition of the extinct Mesozoic ecosystem.

• Keywords
• Australia, Distribution, Elateridae, Fossil, Morphology, Pityobiinae,
• MeSH
• Coleoptera * anatomy & histology   classification   MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Amber * MeSH
• Larva * anatomy & histology   MeSH
• Fossils * MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Myanmar MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Amber * MeSH

Gondwanan elaterids, previously thought to be unrelated, include bioluminescent Campyloxenus earlier placed in bioluminescent Pyrophorinae. Genomic data suggest close relationships between Gondwanan groups. We maintain Morostomatinae and Hapatesinae and redefine Pityobiinae with Nearctic Pityobiini, Gondwanan Parablacini stat. nov., Campyloxenini stat. nov., and Tibionemini trib. nov. Their ancestors putatively underwent differentiation in Gondwana during the Cretaceous separation of southern continents. In contrast with their age, extant groups are species poor. Campyloxenus represents a recent origin of bioluminescence, no older than ∼53 my. Its large pronotal lanterns differ from Pyrophorini and resemble color patches of sympatric beetle co-mimics. This discovery highlights the fourth or fifth origin of bioluminescence in Elateroidea, alongside the lampyroid clade, click beetles Pyrophorini, Alampoides and Coctilelater in Anaissini (Pyrophorinae), and Balgus schnusei (Thylacosterninae). While our phylogenetic findings illuminate the phylogenetic aspects, the complete story awaits further field observations and in-depth genomic analyses of biochemical pathways used by bioluminescent elateroids.

• Keywords
• Entomology, evolutionary biology, phylogenetics,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Click-beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) are an abundant, diverse, and economically important beetle family that includes bioluminescent species. To date, molecular phylogenies have sampled relatively few taxa and genes, incompletely resolving subfamily level relationships. We present a novel probe set for anchored hybrid enrichment of 2260 single-copy orthologous genes in Elateroidea. Using these probes, we undertook the largest phylogenomic study of Elateroidea to date (99 Elateroidea, including 86 Elateridae, plus 5 non-elateroid outgroups). We sequenced specimens from 88 taxa to test the monophyly of families, subfamilies and tribes. Maximum likelihood and coalescent phylogenetic analyses produced well-resolved topologies. Notably, the included non-elaterid bioluminescent families (Lampyridae + Phengodidae + Rhagophthalmidae) form a clade within the otherwise monophyletic Elateridae, and Sinopyrophoridae may not warrant recognition as a family. All analyses recovered the elaterid subfamilies Elaterinae, Agrypninae, Cardiophorinae, Negastriinae, Pityobiinae, and Tetralobinae as monophyletic. Our results were conflicting on whether the hypnoidines are sister to Dendrometrinae or Cardiophorinae + Negastriinae. Moreover, we show that fossils with the eucnemid-type frons and elongate cylindrical shape may belong to Eucnemidae, Elateridae: Thylacosterninae, ancestral hard-bodied cantharoids or related extinct groups. Proposed taxonomic changes include recognition of Plastocerini as a tribe in Dendrometrinae and Hypnoidinae stat. nov. as a subfamily within Elateridae.

• Keywords
• Elateridae, Lampyridae, Phengodidae, Rhagophthalmidae, Sinopyrophoridae, anchored hybrid enrichment, baitset, classification, four-cluster likelihood mapping, phylogenomics,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

The Elateridae (click-beetles) are the largest family in Elateroidea; however, their relationships, systematics and classification remain unclear. Our understanding of the origin, evolution, palaeodiversity and palaeobiogeography of Elateridae, as well as reconstruction of a reliable time-calibrated phylogeny for the group, are hampered by the lack of detailed knowledge of their fossil record. In this study, we summarize the current knowledge on all described fossil species in Elateridae, including their type material, geographic origin, age, bibliography and remarks on their systematic placement. Altogether, 261 fossil species classified in 99 genera and nine subfamilies are currently listed in this family. The Mesozoic click-beetle diversity includes 143 species, with most of them described from the Jurassic Karatau, and 118 described species are known from the Cenozoic deposits, mainly from the Eocene North American Florissant Formation and European Baltic amber. Available data on the described past diversity of Elateridae suggest that almost all fossil lineages in this group are in urgent need of revision and numerous Mesozoic species might belong to different families. Our study is intended to serve as a comprehensive basis for all subsequent research focused on the click-beetle fossil record.

• Keywords
• Cenozoic, Eucnemidae, Mesozoic, catalogue, classification, click-beetles, evolution, palaeodiversity, systematics,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH