Molecular phylogeny illuminates Amblyopinini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) rove beetles as a target for systematic and evolutionary research

Abstract

AbstractThe rove beetle tribe Amblyopinini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Staphylininae) is a recently discovered monophyletic lineage comprising an estimated 1000 or more species of mainly leaf‐ and log litter‐dwelling predatory insects found throughout the southern hemisphere. Of these, a single genus Heterothops Stephens somehow conquered all continents in the northern hemisphere as well. A few lineages of amblyopinines independently evolved into highly derived predators of mammal ectoparasites from free‐living ancestors. In return, they are tolerated in the mammal fur and nests, which is a unique example of cleaning symbiosis between insects and vertebrates. For over a century the great majority of free‐living southern amblyopinines were incorrectly placed in the northern hemisphere‐restricted, and superficially similar, rove beetle genera from the subtribe Quediina. Only their mammal‐associated derived forms were understood as amblyopinines, a nonmonophyletic taxon of volatile status and enigmatic sister‐group relationships of its various members. Here we present the first comprehensive phylogeny of Amblyopinini inferred with Bayesian analysis of a six‐gene molecular dataset (4672 bp) across a broad sample of taxa (90 species). This phylogeny provides a framework for the badly needed taxonomic inventory of this group and, in particular, reveals at least two independent origins of mammal association within the tribe. It frames the upcoming in‐depth interdisciplinary exploration of a variety of phenomena such as evolution of the austral biota in response to continental drift and climate change, biotic exchange between southern and northern continents, origin and evolution of beetle–mammal symbiosis, and pathways and constraints of the evolutionary parallelisms.