Darkling beetles of the tribe Helopini (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) of the world fauna

The largest group of Tenebrionidae, the tribe Helopini of the world fauna was revised. More than 100 new species of Helopini and 26 taxa of supraspecific ranks were described (including 2 fossil Paleogene taxa), about 150 new combinations were proposed, 61 taxa were synonymized; a morphological basis was developed using extant and extinct taxa to reconstruct the phylogeny and improve the classification of the group; the paleontological record of the family Tenebrionidae has been significantly refined and analyzed; phylogenetic models were obtained using morphological characters of adults and larvae, as well as genetic markers; a new balanced classification of the tribe Helopini was developed taking into account morphology, data from phylogenetic reconstructions, distribution and biological features of taxa; the hypothetical paleogeographic region and time of the origin of the tribe were identified; It was established that most Helopini species are the main consumers of fruticose and foliose lichens among macro-invertebrates in the Northern Hemisphere, thus playing a crucial role in many ecosystems