Phylogenetic relationships among beetles within the genus Onymacris (Coleoptera : Tenebrionidae) : a phenetic versus cladistic approach

Bibliography: pages 67-72.Phylogenetic relationships among species within the beetle genus Onymacris (Coleoptera Tenebrionidae) are identified using phenetic and cladistic approaches. Phylogenetic results from cladistic analyses proved to be more robust than those derived with phenetic approaches. However, phenetic analyses proved to be useful in identifying possible interspecific hybridization. Two monophyletic subgenera are recognized. The subgenus Melanonymacris comprises O. lobicollis, O. rugatipennis, O. paiva, O. boschimana, O. multistriata, O. hottentota and O. plana, all of Which have black elytra. The subgenus Onymacris comprises O. langi, O. marginipennis, O. brainei, O. candidipennis and O. bicolor, all of which have pale-coloured elytra, and two species with black, 'bullet-shaped' elytra, O. laeviceps and O. unguicularis. The resulting cladogram and the characters and synapomorphies underpinning it are compared with those from an independently conducted study (Penrith 1984). The implications of the cladogram are discussed in the lignt of the tenets of vicariance biogeography and the constraints of adaptation to the extreme desert environment