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Cladistics : the International Journal... Oct 2020In order to place a newly discovered species Antigracilus costatus gen. sp. n. from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation (China) and to assess previously unplaced...
In order to place a newly discovered species Antigracilus costatus gen. sp. n. from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation (China) and to assess previously unplaced fossil taxa, we investigated the relationships of extant and extinct lineages of Histeridae based on three data sets: (i) 69 morphological characters belonging to 48 taxa (representing all 11 subfamilies and 15 of 17 tribes of modern Histeridae); (ii) partitioned alignment of 6030 bp from downloaded nucleotide sequences (28S, CAD, COI, 18S) of 50 taxa (representing 10 subfamilies and 15 of 17 tribes of modern Histeridae); and (iii) a combined morphological and molecular dataset for 75 taxa. Phylogenetic analyses of the morphology and combined matrices recovered the new Lower Cretaceous taxon as a sister group to remaining Histeridae and it is placed in †Antigracilinae subfam. n. †Antigracilinae constitutes the earliest record of Histeridae from the Lower Cretaceous Yixian Formation (∼125 Myr), backdating the minimum age of the family by 25 Myr from the earliest Cenomanian (~99 Myr) to the Barremian of the Cretaceous Period. Our molecular phylogeny supports Histeridae to be divided into seven different clades, with currently recognised subfamilies Abraeinae (sensu lato), Saprininae, Chlamydopsinae, and Histerinae (sensu lato) recovered as monophyletic, while Dendrophilinae, Onthophilinae, and Tribalinae are polyphyletic taxa. The Burmese amber species †Pantostictus burmanicus Poinar & Brown is placed as a sister group to the tribe Plegaderini (Abraeinae) and was assigned as a new tribe Pantostictini trib. n. Both molecular and combined phylogenies recovered the subfamilies Trypanaeinae and Trypeticinae deeply within the subfamily Abraeinae (sensu lato), and they are downgraded into Trypanaeini stat. n. and Trypeticini stat. n.
Topics: Abdomen; Animals; Coleoptera; Evolution, Molecular; Extremities; Fossils; Head; Male; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Mouth; Phylogeny; Thorax
PubMed: 34618954
DOI: 10.1111/cla.12418 -
Doklady. Biochemistry and Biophysics Aug 2022The structure of the brain of the smallest coleopteran, Scydosella musawasensis Hall, 1999, is described for the first time. As in other extremely small beetles, the...
The structure of the brain of the smallest coleopteran, Scydosella musawasensis Hall, 1999, is described for the first time. As in other extremely small beetles, the brain of S. musawasensis displays signs of miniaturization: displacement to the thorax, compactization, and a small number and size of the neurons. The body size of the studied smallest beetle is similar to that of the minute hymenopteran Megaphragma, which has a nearly anucleate nervous system. However, the structure of the brain of the studied smallest beetle is similar to that of large representatives of the order and is characterized by a high number of nuclei in the brain and a significant volume of the cell body rind. The neuropil of S. musawasensis occupies 60% of the brain volume, confirming the neuropilar constant rule.
Topics: Animals; Body Size; Brain; Coleoptera; Neurons
PubMed: 36038683
DOI: 10.1134/S1607672922040068 -
Genes Oct 2022(Motschulsky, 1854) and Gressitt & Rondon, 1970 are two commonly found longicorn beetles from China. However, the lack of sufficient molecular data hinders the...
(Motschulsky, 1854) and Gressitt & Rondon, 1970 are two commonly found longicorn beetles from China. However, the lack of sufficient molecular data hinders the understanding of their evolution and phylogenetic relationships with other species of Cerambycidae. This study sequenced and assembled the complete mitochondrial genomes of the two species using the next-generation sequencing method. The mitogenomes of and are 15,622 bp and 15,527 bp in length, respectively. The mitochondrial gene content and gene order of and are highly conserved with other sequenced longicorn beetles. The calculation of nonsynonymous (Ka) and synonymous (Ks) substitution rates in PCGs indicated the existence of purifying selection in the two longicorn beetles. The phylogenetic analysis was conducted using the protein-coding gene sequences from available mitogenomes of Cerambycidae. The two species sequenced in this study are, respectively, grouped with their relatives from the same subfamily. The monophyly of Cerambycinae, Dorcasominae, Lamiinae, and Necydalinae was well-supported, whereas Lepturinae, Prioninae, and Spondylidinae were recovered as paraphyletic.
Topics: Animals; Genome, Mitochondrial; Coleoptera; Phylogeny; Genes, Mitochondrial; China
PubMed: 36292766
DOI: 10.3390/genes13101881 -
Trends in Parasitology Jun 2014Pine wilt disease (PWD) is perhaps the most serious threat to pine forests worldwide. The causative agent of PWD, the pinewood nematode (PWN), engages in a symbiotic... (Review)
Review
Pine wilt disease (PWD) is perhaps the most serious threat to pine forests worldwide. The causative agent of PWD, the pinewood nematode (PWN), engages in a symbiotic partnership with its insect vector, the Monochamus beetle, as well as associated bacteria and ophiostomatoid fungi, in order to successfully infect and kill its host pine tree. This review focuses on the interspecific communication between PWN and its associated partners, and the potential role of this communication in promoting pathogenicity and invasiveness of PWN. We describe the chemical and molecular signals positively influencing the survival, reproduction, and spread of PWN. Knowledge of these signals could potentially be used to interfere with the proliferation and dispersal of PWN.
Topics: Animals; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Coleoptera; Fungi; Host-Parasite Interactions; Nematoda; Pinus
PubMed: 24810363
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2014.04.007 -
Cladistics : the International Journal... Apr 2021Within the hyperdiverse beetle family Staphylinidae, Dasycerinae is one of the smallest and most cryptic subfamilies, comprising a sole extant genus characterized by a...
Within the hyperdiverse beetle family Staphylinidae, Dasycerinae is one of the smallest and most cryptic subfamilies, comprising a sole extant genus characterized by a latridiid beetle-like body form. Little has been known about their early diversification, character evolution, phylogeny and historical biogeography because of limited fossil material and lack of a phylogeny integrating extant and extinct representatives. Here we report an unexpectedly diverse dasycerine fauna from the mid-Cretaceous of northern Myanmar, including a new genus and four new species. To reconstruct the early evolutionary history of Dasycerinae, we present a phylogenetic framework of the subfamily based on a dataset integrating all extant and extinct taxa using parsimony, maximum-likelihood and Bayesian methods. †Cedasyrus gen. n., characterized by distinct sexual dimorphism in antennal and elytral lengths, is recovered as the basal-most lineage, sister to the remaining two extinct genera and all living Dasycerus species. †Vetudasycerus is recovered as sister to †Protodasycerus + Dasycerus. Among all extinct taxa, †Protodasycerus bears distinctly longer elytra, and appears to represent a transitional form from †Vetudasycerus to Dasycerus. Phylogenetic inferences and ancestral distribution reconstruction support an "Out-of-Orient" model for Dasycerinae. Either the Bering- or North Atlantic Land Bridge may have served as a passageway for dasycerine dispersal between Eurasian and North American continents. An elevation-reconstruction analysis indicated that the ancestor of the extant Dasycerus probably lived at a high altitude and stayed at this elevation through the end of the Miocene. We propose that the extinction of dasycerine ancestors living on the Tethyan islands at low altitude was likely caused by sea-level rise and climatic warming during the Late Cretaceous. The high-altitude areas might have played the role of refugia that harboured subalpine derivatives which eventually gave rise to the extant Dasycerus.
Topics: Animals; Bayes Theorem; Biological Evolution; Coleoptera; Fossils; Myanmar; Phylogeny; Phylogeography; Sex Characteristics
PubMed: 34478187
DOI: 10.1111/cla.12430 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Dec 2019The order Coleoptera (beetles) is arguably the most speciose group of animals, but the evolutionary history of beetles, including the impacts of plant feeding...
The order Coleoptera (beetles) is arguably the most speciose group of animals, but the evolutionary history of beetles, including the impacts of plant feeding (herbivory) on beetle diversification, remain poorly understood. We inferred the phylogeny of beetles using 4,818 genes for 146 species, estimated timing and rates of beetle diversification using 89 genes for 521 species representing all major lineages and traced the evolution of beetle genes enabling symbiont-independent digestion of lignocellulose using 154 genomes or transcriptomes. Phylogenomic analyses of these uniquely comprehensive datasets resolved previously controversial beetle relationships, dated the origin of Coleoptera to the Carboniferous, and supported the codiversification of beetles and angiosperms. Moreover, plant cell wall-degrading enzymes (PCWDEs) obtained from bacteria and fungi via horizontal gene transfers may have been key to the Mesozoic diversification of herbivorous beetles-remarkably, both major independent origins of specialized herbivory in beetles coincide with the first appearances of an arsenal of PCWDEs encoded in their genomes. Furthermore, corresponding (Jurassic) diversification rate increases suggest that these novel genes triggered adaptive radiations that resulted in nearly half of all living beetle species. We propose that PCWDEs enabled efficient digestion of plant tissues, including lignocellulose in cell walls, facilitating the evolution of uniquely specialized plant-feeding habits, such as leaf mining and stem and wood boring. Beetle diversity thus appears to have resulted from multiple factors, including low extinction rates over a long evolutionary history, codiversification with angiosperms, and adaptive radiations of specialized herbivorous beetles following convergent horizontal transfers of microbial genes encoding PCWDEs.
Topics: Animals; Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; Cell Wall; Cellulases; Coleoptera; Fungal Proteins; Fungi; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Genome, Insect; Herbivory; Insect Proteins; Lignin; Phylogeny; Plants; Polysaccharide-Lyases; Polysaccharides
PubMed: 31740605
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1909655116 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2021Niche partitioning among species with virtually the same requirements is a fundamental concept in ecology. Nevertheless, some authors suggest that niches have little...
Niche partitioning among species with virtually the same requirements is a fundamental concept in ecology. Nevertheless, some authors suggest that niches have little involvement in structuring communities. This study was done in the Pardubice Region (Czech Republic) on saproxylic beetles with morphologically similar larvae and very specific requirements, which are related to their obligatory dependence on dead wood material: Cucujus cinnaberinus, Pyrochroa coccinea, and Schizotus pectinicornis. This work was performed on 232 dead wood pieces at the landscape scale over six years. Based on the factors studied, the relationships among these species indicated that their co-occurrence based on species presence and absence was low, which indicated niche partitioning. However, based on analyses of habitat requirements and species composition using observed species abundances, there was no strong evidence for niche partitioning at either studied habitat levels, the tree and the microhabitat. The most likely reasons for the lack of strong niche partitioning were that dead wood is a rich resource and co-occurrence of saproxylic community was not driven by resource competition. This might be consistent with the theory that biodiversity could be controlled by the neutral drift of species abundance. Nevertheless, niche partitioning could be ongoing, meaning that the expanding C. cinnaberinus may have an advantage over the pyrochroids and could dominate in the long term.
Topics: Animals; Biodiversity; Coleoptera; Czech Republic; Ecosystem; Forests; Larva; Species Specificity; Trees; Wood
PubMed: 34312411
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-94396-x -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Feb 2021Many small animals use springs and latches to overcome the mechanical power output limitations of their muscles. Click beetles use springs and latches to bend their...
Many small animals use springs and latches to overcome the mechanical power output limitations of their muscles. Click beetles use springs and latches to bend their bodies at the thoracic hinge and then unbend extremely quickly, resulting in a clicking motion. When unconstrained, this quick clicking motion results in a jump. While the jumping motion has been studied in depth, the physical mechanisms enabling fast unbending have not. Here, we first identify and quantify the phases of the clicking motion: latching, loading, and energy release. We detail the motion kinematics and investigate the governing dynamics (forces) of the energy release. We use high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging to observe and analyze the motion of the hinge's internal structures of four specimens. We show evidence that soft cuticle in the hinge contributes to the spring mechanism through rapid recoil. Using spectral analysis and nonlinear system identification, we determine the equation of motion and model the beetle as a nonlinear single-degree-of-freedom oscillator. Quadratic damping and snap-through buckling are identified to be the dominant damping and elastic forces, respectively, driving the angular position during the energy release phase. The methods used in this study provide experimental and analytical guidelines for the analysis of extreme motion, starting from motion observation to identifying the forces causing the movement. The tools demonstrated here can be applied to other organisms to enhance our understanding of the energy storage and release strategies small animals use to achieve extreme accelerations repeatedly.
Topics: Animals; Biomechanical Phenomena; Coleoptera; Elasticity; Energy Metabolism; Integumentary System; Motion; Nonlinear Dynamics; X-Rays
PubMed: 33468629
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2014569118 -
Current Biology : CB Sep 2018Cycads, unlike modern wind-pollinated conifers and Ginkgo, are unusual in that they are an ancient group of gymnosperms pollinated by insects [1-3]. Although it is well...
Cycads, unlike modern wind-pollinated conifers and Ginkgo, are unusual in that they are an ancient group of gymnosperms pollinated by insects [1-3]. Although it is well documented that cycads were diverse and abundant during the mid-Mesozoic, little is known about their biogeography and pollination before the rise of angiosperms. Direct fossil evidence illuminating the evolutionary history of cycads is extremely rare [4, 5]. Here we report a specialized beetle-mediated pollination mode from the mid-Cretaceous of Myanmar, wherein a new boganiid beetle, Cretoparacucujus cycadophilus, with specialized pollen-feeding adaptations in its mouthparts and legs, was associated with many pollen grains of Cycadopites. Phylogenetic analyses indicate Cretoparacucujus as a sister group to the extant Australian Paracucujus, which pollinate the cycad Macrozamia riedlei. Our discovery, along with the current disjunct distribution of related beetle-herbivore (tribe Paracucujini) and cycad-host (tribe Encephalarteae) pairs in South Africa and Australia, indicate a probable ancient origin of beetle pollination of cycads at least in the Early Jurassic, long before angiosperm dominance and the radiation of flowering-plant pollinators later in the Cretaceous.
Topics: Amber; Animals; Coleoptera; Cycas; Fossils; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Myanmar; Phylogeny; Pollen; Pollination
PubMed: 30122529
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.036 -
Cladistics : the International Journal... Aug 2021Phylogenetic studies of Aleocharinae rove beetles, arguably one of the least known and the largest insect lineages, are compromised by its enormous taxonomic diversity....
Phylogenetic studies of Aleocharinae rove beetles, arguably one of the least known and the largest insect lineages, are compromised by its enormous taxonomic diversity. DNA, a powerful resource for phylogenetics, is not available for numerous extant aleocharine species. We provide a broad comparative morphological study of Aleocharinae to frame molecular datasets for total-evidence analyses. Using full-body dissections and slide-mounting techniques for light microscopy supplemented by scanning electron microscopy, we constructed a morphological matrix across all major taxa focused on non-inquiline tribes of Aleocharinae and outgroups. Phylogenetic analyses of this matrix concatenated with earlier published DNA loci and including exemplar taxa lacking molecular data, resolved outstanding controversies and, among other novelties, showed that: the Habrocerinae + Trichophyinae clade is sister group to Aleocharinae; Hypocyphtini are sister to the rest of the "higher Aleocharinae"; Taxicerini are sister to Aleocharini; Hoplandriini and Placusini are nested within a polyphyletic Oxypodini; Hoplandriini are sister to Meoticina; and Actocharini are nested within Liparocephalini. For the first time, morphological synapomorphies are identified for some large clades of Aleocharinae. In addition, 1252 high-resolution microphotographs of aleocharine structures are made available online with the entire matrix for future research.
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Coleoptera; Phylogeny
PubMed: 34478192
DOI: 10.1111/cla.12444