Monday, December 11, 2006 - 9:35 AM
0211

Systematics of the Endomychidae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea):  An investigation of the natural history and evolution of a mycophagous beetle family

Floyd W. Shockley, fshockley@bugs.ent.uga.edu1, Kelly B. Miller, kelly.miller@byu.edu2, Joseph V. McHugh, jmchugh@bugs.ent.uga.edu3, and Michael F. Whiting2. (1) University of Georgia, Dept. of Entomology, 413 Biological Sciences Bldg, Athens, GA, (2) Brigham Young University, Department of Integrative Biology, 401WIDB, Provo, UT, (3) University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, 413 Biological Sciences Building, Athens, GA

Recent phylogenetic hypotheses for Endomychidae based on morphology alone have yielded conflicting results and failed to resolve the subfamilial relationships within Endomychidae. Hypotheses based on adult morphology support the family as monophyletic but provide little resolution between the subfamilies, while hypotheses based on larval morphology provide better resolution between the subfamilies but do not recover the family as well-supported. Adult and larval morphological data were combined with molecular sequence data from ribosomal (18S, 28S), nuclear protein-coding (wingless), and mitochondrial (COI) genes to reconstruct a new phylogenetic hypothesis for the evolution of the family allowing investigation of shifts in host preference (sporophagy, mycophagy, entomophagy), associations with social insects (myrmecophily and termitophily), and transformations in body shape and color patterns.


Species 1: Coleoptera Endomychidae