Molecular systematics and evolution of the Ptinidae (Coleoptera: Bostrichoidea) and related families KAREN LEANNE BELL 1,2,3 * and T. KEITH PHILIPS 1 1 Systematics and Evolution Laboratory, Department of Biology, Western Kentucky University, 1906 College Heights Blvd, Bowling Green, KY 42101-3576 2 Department of Plant Sciences and Biodiversity, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, Birdwood Avenue, South Yarra, Victoria 3141, Australia 3 Department of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Victoria 3800, Australia Received 1 July 2011; accepted for publication 5 October 2011; revised 5 October 2011 The Ptinidae (Coleoptera: Bostrichoidea) are a cosmopolitan, ecologically diverse, but poorly known group of Coleoptera and, excluding a few economic pests, species are rarely encountered. This first broad phylogenetic study of the Ptinidae s.l. (i.e. including both the spider beetles and anobiids) examines relationships based on DNA sequence data from two mitochondrial genes (16S and COI) and one nuclear gene (28S), using out-group taxa from both the Bostrichidae and Dermestidae. Topologies varied depending on the genes used and whether data were analysed with either parsimony or Bayesian methods. Generally the two mitochondrial genes supported relation- ships near the tips of the phylogeny, whereas the nuclear gene supported the basal relationships. The monophyly of the Ptinidae was not inferred by all of the gene combinations and analysis methods, although the combined Ptinidae and Bostrichidae have a single origin in all cases. Alternative relationships include the Ptinidae s.s. (i.e. Ptininae and Gibbiinae) as sister to the anobiids (i.e. the nine remaining subfamilies of Ptinidae s.l.) + Bostri- chidae, or the Bostrichidae as sister to the Ptinidae s.s. + anobiids. Most of the larger subfamilies within the Ptinidae are not monophyletic. Further analysis with more taxa and more genes will be required to clarify and decide upon the best hypothesis of relationships found within the clades of the Bostrichidae and Ptinidae. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165, 88–108. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.2011.00792.x ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: 16S – 28S – Anobiidae – Bayesian – COI – DNA sequence alignment – parsimony – powder-post beetle – Ptininae – spider beetle. INTRODUCTION The Ptinidae are found throughout the world (White, 1974; Philips, 2000) and appear to be generally more diverse in the temperate zones compared with the tropics. There are approximately 230 genera and more than 2200 species known worldwide (Lawrence, 1991; Lawrence & Viedma, 1991). Undoubtedly many species remain to be described, in part because of the difficulty in sampling this group, the small, compact size of most species, and also because the similar morphologies seen among many genera and species make studying them difficult. Taxa are currently placed in 11 subfamilies, many of which are doubt- fully monophyletic. The habits of the Ptinidae are extremely diverse for the relatively small size of the group. Larvae are recorded as borers in bark, dry wood (both angiosperms and gymnosperms), twigs, vines, pods, seeds, pine cones, woody fruits, galls, fungi (including puff balls and woody shelf fungi), dead flower stalks, or more rarely in the young stems or shoots of growing trees (White, 1962; Lawrence et al., 1999). Whereas wood borers are relatively common *E-mail: karen.bell@rbg.vic.gov.au Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165, 88–108. With 5 figures © 2012 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2012, 165, 88–108 88 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/article/165/1/88/2627172 by guest on 14 June 2022