The phylogeny of the Tenebrionidae (Coleoptera) inferred from molecular data

The beetle family, Tenebrionidae, contains around 20,000 described species that are divided into 3 main lineages, the tenebrionoids, lagrioids, and pimelioids. To date, morphology and biogeography have not been able to resolve whether it is the pimelioids or the lagrioids that are the sister group to the tenebrionoids. This study represents the first attempt at using molecular data to resolve this deep split in Tenebrionidae. 91 ingroup taxa representing all 9 tenebrionid subfamilies were sequenced at 4 loci: 28S, ArgK, CAD, and wingless. Bayesian analyses on individual genes do not resolve the relationship among the lineages. However analysis of the concatenated dataset shows evidence of lagrioids as the sister group to the tenebrionoids. In addition, the data supports the position of the enigmatic subfamily, Zolodininae, as the sister group to the rest of the Tenebrionidae.