The evolutionary history of the ancient weevil family Belidae (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) reveals the marks of Gondwana breakup and major floristic turnovers, including the rise of angiosperms
Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States; Center for Biodiversity Research, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States
Adriana E Marvaldi
CONICET, División Entomología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET, Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Zonas Áridas, Entomología, Mendoza, Argentina
Rolf G Oberprieler
CSIRO, Australian National Insect Collection, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Canberra, Australia
Dave Clarke
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States; Center for Biodiversity Research, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States
Brian D Farrell
Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States; Center for Biodiversity Research, University of Memphis, Memphis, United States
The rise of angiosperms to ecological dominance and the breakup of Gondwana during the Mesozoic marked major transitions in the evolutionary history of insect-plant interactions. To elucidate how contemporary trophic interactions were influenced by host plant shifts and palaeogeographical events, we integrated molecular data with information from the fossil record to construct a time tree for ancient phytophagous weevils of the beetle family Belidae. Our analyses indicate that crown-group Belidae originated approximately 138 Ma ago in Gondwana, associated with Pinopsida (conifer) host plants, with larvae likely developing in dead/decaying branches. Belids tracked their host plants as major plate movements occurred during Gondwana’s breakup, surviving on distant, disjunct landmasses. Some belids shifted to Angiospermae and Cycadopsida when and where conifers declined, evolving new trophic interactions, including brood-pollination mutualisms with cycads and associations with achlorophyllous parasitic angiosperms. Extant radiations of belids in the genera Rhinotia (Australian region) and Proterhinus (Hawaiian Islands) have relatively recent origins.
