Phylogeny-based reinterpretation of the genus Blaps Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae, Blaptinae) from China, with description of two new species

Collection: Pensoft Publishers

Keywords: Darkling beetles · Topics: Invertebrate Taxonomy and Ecology, Plant Taxonomy and Phylogenetics, Mediterranean and Iberian flora and fauna

Blaps is the most species-rich genus in the subtribe Blaptina (Tenebrionidae, Blaptinae), with 205 described species. In this study, we reconstructed a preliminary phylogenetic tree based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences from 34 species of Blaps and Nalepa. Based on both molecular and morphological evidence, we propose a new classification for the genus Blaps. Consequently, Blaps (Blaps) holcus Ren, 2016 is transferred from the subgenus Blaps to the subgenus Ablapsis and Nalepa is reinstated as a subgenus of Blaps, Nalepa, stat. resurr. Furthermore, two new species are described and illustrated from China: Blaps (Blaps) pedinoides Li, sp. nov. and Blaps (Nalepa) undulata Li, sp. nov. This work provides valuable molecular and morphological data for the phylogenetic study of the subtribe Blaptina.

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