Getting back to the root of it all: utilizing 28S and COI to realize the intrafamilial placement of Hydnocerinae (Coleoptera: Cucujiformia: Cleridae)

Representatives of the checkered beetle subfamilies Clerinae, Enopliinae, Epiphloeinae, Hydnocerinae, Korynetinae, Isoclerinae (MS), Neorthopleurinae (MS), Peloniinae (MS), Tarsosteninae, Thaneroclerinae and Tillinae were analyzed using the informative regions 28S and cytochrome c oxidase I (COI). The Hydnocerinae, Tillinae and Clerinae were broadly sampled. The results are compared to the limited existing phylogenetic hypotheses regarding the subfamilies of the family Cleridae which posit that (Thaneroclerinae + Isoclerinae) is basal to the sister taxa (Hydnocerinae + Anthicoclerinae) and (Clerinae + Tillinae). The results will permit the rooting of future analyses of the Cleridae and more detailed analysis of the subfamilies.