Anchored Phylogenomics of Elateridae: some outgroups did not act as expected!

Citation

Douglas HB, Kundrata R, Brunke A, Chapados JT, Richter R, Savard K, McKenna D and Dettman JR (2020) Anchored Phylogenomics of Elateridae: some outgroups did not act as expected! Second International Symposium on Elateroidea (online international symposium). October 11, 2021. Invited oral presentation, 30 minutes.

Résumé en langage clair

We presented our recently published (publication 50976) phylogenomic analysis of wireworms of the world to an international audience of taxonomic specialists in the group. We did this mainy to inspire and discuss potential future international collaborations with additional authors.

Résumé

Click-beetles (Coleoptera: Elateridae) are an abundant, diverse, and economically important beetle family that includes bioluminescent species. To date, molecular phylogenies have sampled relatively few taxa and genes, incompletely resolving subfamily level relationships. We present a novel probe set for anchored hybrid enrichment of 2260 single-copy orthologous genes in Elateroidea. Using these probes, we undertook the largest phylogenomic study of Elateroidea to date (99 Elateroidea, including 86 Elateridae, plus 5 non-elateroid outgroups). We sequenced specimens from 88 taxa to test the monophyly of families, subfamilies and tribes. Maximum likelihood and coalescent phylogenetic analyses produced well-resolved topologies. Notably, the included non-elaterid bioluminescent families (Lampyridae + Phengodidae + Rhagophthalmidae) form a clade within the otherwise monophyletic Elateridae, and Sinopyrophoridae may not warrant recognition as a family. All analyses recovered the elaterid subfamilies Elaterinae, Agrypninae, Cardiophorinae, Negastriinae, Pityobiinae, and Tetralobinae as monophyletic. Our results were conflicting on whether the hypnoidines are sister to Dendrometrinae or Cardiophorinae + Negastriinae. Moreover, we show that fossils with the eucnemid-type frons and elongate cylindrical shape may belong to Eucnemidae, Elateridae: Thylacosterninae, ancestral hard-bodied cantharoids or related extinct groups. Proposed taxonomic changes include recognition of Plastocerini as a tribe in Dendrometrinae and Hypnoidinae stat. nov. as a subfamily within Elateridae.