Revision and phylogenetic analysis of the subfamily Platerodinae (Coleoptera: Lycidae)

Milada Bocáková

doi:10.14411/eje.2001.010

Abstract

Genus-group taxa of Platerodinae are revised and valid taxa are redescribed. The validity of Plateros Bourgeois, 1879 is reinstated. Libnetomimus Kleine, 1927 is made a junior synonym of Libnetis Waterhouse, 1878. Calleros Gorham, 1881, Calloplateros Pic, 1923, Costatoplateros Pic, 1949, Ditoneces Waterhouse, 1879, Libnetomorphus Pic, 1921, Microplateros Pic, 1921, Planeteros Gorham, 1883, Tolianus Pic, 1921, Melampyrus Waterhouse, 1879, and the subgenus Cautirodes Pic, 1921 are considered to be junior synonyms of Plateros Bourgeois, 1879. The subgenus Pseudeuplectus Pic, 1922 is synonymized to Cavoplateros Pic, 1913, and Pseudoplateros Green, 1951 is made a junior synonym of Falsocalleros Pic, 1933. Macrolibnetis Pic, 1938 formerly classified with Platerodini is synonymized to Platerodrilus Pic, 1921. Samoaneros Blair, 1928 is considered to be a junior objective synonym of Melaneros Fairmaire, 1877, which is excluded from Platerodinae and is kept incertae sedis in Lycidae. Fernandum Pic, 1924 and Subdihammatus Kleine, 1926 are transferred to the subfamily Leptolycinae. Teroplas oculatus sp. n. and Microlycus mexicanus sp. n. are described. Neotype of Plateros brasiliensis (Lucas, 1857) and lectotype of Microlycus minutus Pic, 1922 are designated. In order to understand relationships within the subfamily, included genus-group taxa were cladistically analysed.

Highlights

With about 900 recognized species, Platerodinae is the second largest subfamily of Lycidae after Metriorrhynchinae
Most of the confusion in taxonomy of Lycidae was induced by taxa of a famous French author, Maurice Pic, a taxonomist of Coleoptera, Heteroptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and some other groups
The main objective of this paper is to use evidence of adult morphology to conduct a phylogenetic analysis of genus group taxa placed within Platerodinae, in order to under stand relationships within it, and to propose a natural tribal classification

Summary

Introduction

With about 900 recognized species, Platerodinae is the second largest subfamily of Lycidae after Metriorrhynchinae Before this revision Platerodinae comprised 29 valid genus-group names (Bocák & Bocáková, 1990a, 1992; Bocáková, 1997a; Miller, 1997). Most of the confusion in taxonomy of Lycidae was induced by taxa of a famous French author, Maurice Pic, a taxonomist of Coleoptera, Heteroptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and some other groups. He mostly pub lished in Mélanges Exotico-Entomologiques and L'Echange where he was usually the single contributor. Pic proposed 44 genus-group taxa (Kleine, 1933), 29 of them are monotypic These 44 taxa together contain only 139 species

Objectives

Findings

Methods