Progress towards a revision of Camptocerus Dejean (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

Camptocerus Dejean 1821 is a Neotropical bark beetle genus that feeds on a mixture of wood and fungi unlike three related phloem feeding genera. Camptocerus species also exhibit interesting morphologies given their range of colors, including metallic green, modifications of the frons and elytra, and type and density of setae. Despite these characteristics there is some ambiguity with generic boundaries given that no one has revised the genus since its conception. Hence 63 characters were gleaned from external adult morphology and genitalic characters in order reassess the generic limits of Camptocerus and its species diversity within the context of a phylogenetic analysis. Preliminary results indicate that Camptocerus is monophyletic and the existence of 32 species, 12 of which are new.