Looking beyond uniformity: Towards a phylogenetic classification of the Phalacridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea)

The generic and suprageneric arrangement of the beetle family Phalacridae has been uncontested for over a century, largely because of their small size and structural monotony. The last comprehensive treatment of the group, that of Guillebeau (1894), contained no illustrations, created a largely non-nomenclatural tribal classification based on unstable characters, and many genera were improperly or inadequately defined. Consequently a wealth of generic synonyms have resulted from his and subsequent works. Additionally, there is at present no workable higher classification for the group. We provide the Phalacridae with a preliminary generic and suprageneric classification based on phylogenetic methods, the first in the family's history. Approximately 100 parsimony-informative morphological characters were scored and utilized in a phylogenetic analysis. Particular attention is given to the composition and placement of the hypothesized subfamily "Phaenocephalinae" of Lawrence and Newton (1995), which is strongly supported by these data as a monophyletic group sister to the remainder of the family. At least 24 generic synonyms are proposed, and 10 new genera will be described. This higher-level reclassification and genus-level revisionary work is critical in providing a foundation for future species-level taxonomic work as well as basic biological, ecological, and applied research into these beetles.