Phylogenetic relationships of North American Aegialia (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) as indicated by allozymes and morphology

Abstract

A cladistic analysis of morphological characters of the North American species of Aegialia supported the concept of the genus, the subgenera, and identified several distinct clades within the subgenus Aegialia. Allozyme character analysis using neighbor-joining, maximum likelihood, and analysis of loci-as-characters using step matrices, also supported monophyly in Aegialia and its North American subgenera Leptaegialia and Psammoporus. A total evidence analysis using a combination of allozyme and morphological data sets provides a robust analysis of the genus and supports conclusions based on the individual data sets. A basin and range province flightless clade composed of Aegialia crescenta Gordon & Cartwright, A. hardyi Gordon & Cartwright, and A. magnifica Gordon & Cartwright was identified; with A. concinna Gordon & Cartwright as its sister species.