Phylogenetic analysis of the myrmecophilous Cremastocheilus Knoch (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Cetoniinae), based on external adult morphology

By

Mynhardt, Glene
Wenzel, John W.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2010

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

34

Pages

129-140

Subjects

Cremastocheilus , myrmecophily , Phylogeny , Scarabaeidae

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.34.262

 

Abstract

The genus Cremastocheilus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) is a myrmecophilous group of approximately 45 species distributed throughout North America. Authors previously recognized anywhere between two and five subgenera. We present the first cladistic analysis of Cremastocheilus based on 51 external adult morphological characters. The monophyly of the subgenera Macropodina, Trinodia and Cremastocheilus is supported. Cremastocheilus (Anatrinodia) wheeleri is most closely related to other C. (Cremastocheilus). The three species groups comprising C. (Myrmecotonus) are paraphyletic with respect to C. (Cremastocheilus). The pronotum, which bears most of the glands that enable beetles to interact with ants, provides important characters, while characters associated with setae and tomenta are homoplastic. Based on examination of the strict consensus of 24 equally parsimonious trees C. (Myrmecotonus) and C. (Anatrinodia) are synonymized with C. (Cremastocheilus).