Morphologic Characters of the Weevil Head and Phylogenetic Implications (Coleoptera, Curculionoidea)

Abstract

As a result of our morphological observations of the weevil head, 26 characters are singled out for the phylognetic analysis of the principal families in Curculionoidea, of which 15 charactersare newly employed for this purpose. These characters are examined in detail and their modes of development are apeculated for making charavter matrix. The family relationship in Curculionoidea we inferred is mostly concordant with that in the cladogram by Marvaldi & Morrone (2000), but is very different in the positions of Scolytidae and Platypodidae, and these are regarded as the independent families divaricated from an internediate branch between the primitive and advanced families.