Next step toward a molecular phylogeny of click‐beetles (<scp>C</scp>oleoptera: <scp>E</scp>lateridae): redefinition of <scp>P</scp>ityobiinae, with a description of a new subfamily <scp>P</scp>arablacinae from the <scp>A</scp>ustralasian <scp>R</scp>egion

Abstract

Abstract E lateridae represents one of the largest families within C oleoptera, yet their interrelationships remain under‐investigated. Molecular data are missing for most lineages, especially for the species‐poor suprageneric taxa. In this study, we investigated the limits and phylogenetic position of P ityobiinae sensu Calder (1996), a group of several small genera from the N ew W orld and A ustralasia, using maximum likelihood and B ayesian inference methods. We merged new sequence data with those deposited in G en B ank, producing a final matrix of 178 terminal taxa and covering the main click‐beetle subfamilies. The resulting topologies showed E laterinae as sister to remaining click‐beetle lineages, and A grypninae as sister to the Morostomatinae + D endrometrinae + C ardiophorinae + N egastriinae clade. M embers of H emiopinae, L issominae, Thylacosterninae and P ityobiinae formed basal lineages within E lateridae − E laterinae. We found L issominae to be polyphyletic, including T hylacosterninae as a terminal lineage and with O estodini forming an independent lineage outside that clade. Therefore, the subfamily O estodinae stat. nov. was reinstated for the N orth A merican genera O estodes L eConte and B ladus L e C onte. The Australian genera D icteniophorus C andèze, D rymelater C alder and S tichotomus C andèze were transferred from D endrometrinae to E laterinae. P ityobiinae was recovered as two distant lineages in all analyses and correspondingly the subfamily is reduced to contain only the N orth A merican P ityobius L e C onte and tentatively the S outh A merican T ibionema S olier, for which we have no DNA sequences. Additionally, we propose P arablacinae subfam. nov. for the remaining former pityobiine genera from A ustralia and N ew Z ealand. The new subfamily includes P arablax S chwarz, M etablax C andèze, W ynarka C alder, X uthelater C alder, T asmanelater C alder, P arasaphes C andèze and also O phidius C andèze, which is transferred here from E laterinae. We failed to find universally diagnostic synapomorphies in adult morphology for P arablacinae, a common problem in elaterid taxonomy. Future research, including a comprehensive phylogeny of the subfamily and re‐examination of the morphology of its species is crucial to understanding the limits and classification of this lineage.