Dr Yulingzi Zhou1, Dr Andreas Zwick1, Dr Adam Slipinski1

1Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, Australia

Biography:

I have been working in the Australian National Insect Collection as the beetle senior curator since 2020.

Abstract:

We sampled 80% of the genera in the family Bothrideridae and constructed the first phylogenetic tree for this family using morphological, molecular, and combined datasets. Our research confirmed that Bothrideridae is a monophyletic group, closely related to Teredidae. The genus Ascetoderes was recovered in three distinct clades in both the molecular and combined phylogenetic trees. Two of these clades have been reclassified as new genera, with most species found in Australia, New Zealand, and New Caledonia. Morphological characteristics distinguishing these new genera from the African Ascetoderes are provided. The following synonymizations are proposed: Craspedophilus nov. syn. (=Asosylus), Petalophora nov. syn. (=Sosylus), and Cosmothorax syn. nov. (=Machlotes).