Phylogenetic placement of the enigmatic longhorned beetle Vesperoctenus flohri Bates (Vesperidae) and a first description of its female internal structures

• DOI: 10.3897/asp.79.e66966
• Publication Date: 2021-05-13T17:32:01Z
• Authors: Stephanie Haddad; Nayeli Gutiérrez; Felipe A. Noguera; Seunggwan Shin; Petr Svacha; Duane D. McKenna
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Insecta; Arthropoda; Vesperoctenus flohri; Science; Q; Chrysomeloidea; Vesperoctenini; Coleoptera; taxonomy; 03 medical and health sciences; Vesperinae; morphology; Cerambycidae; Vesperoctenus; distribution; Animalia; Mexico

Taxonomic placement of the enigmatic monotypic Mexican longhorned beetle genusVesperoctenusBates is examined through inclusion in and reanalysis of the dataset of Haddad et al. (2018,Systematic Entomology43: 68–89). We describe and discuss the phylogenetic significance of the internal structures of a recently collectedV. flohrifemale from the Sierra de la Laguna mountain range in Mexico, the same specimen from which phylogenomic data was generated. Our phylogenomic analyses (469 genes) recoveredVesperoctenuswith maximal statistical support within the cerambyciform family Vesperidae, sister toVesperusDejean (Vesperinae).Vesperus+Vesperoctenuswere recovered sister to Philinae, and collectively form a clade sister to Anoplodermatinae. Thus, we placeV. flohriwithin Vesperidae: Vesperinae: Vesperoctenini based on analyses of large-scale phylogenomic data. Finally, we propose that the conservation status ofV. flohrimerits assessment.