A phylogeny of Sericini with particular reference to Chinese species using mitochondrial and ribosomal DNA (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Sericini chafer beetles are inconspicuous and morphologically rather uniform. Their morphological homogeneity has resulted in taxonomic difficulties particularly with the generic classification but also with the recognition of the species in general. Here, we present a phylogenetic analysis of Sericini using maximum likelihood and Bayesian tree inference based on partial 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA), cytochrome oxidase I (cox 1), and 16S rDNA (rrnL) for 26 genera and 173 species of Sericini, with major focus on Chinese taxa. Chinese taxa were resolved within two major clades of the subtribe Sericina, while basal lineages of Sericini as well as Trochalina did not include species from China. Our results confirm previous findings in which species relationships were not consistent with the current genus-level classification, as well as in a previously hypothesized close phylogenetic link between southwestern Chinese and Himalayan species. Large genera such as Neoserica, Serica, and Maladera all resulted to be polyphyletic, being split in several distantly related branches. But also, less intensely sampled groups like Lasioserica and Microserica were non-monophyletic. The major implication from this analysis is that the existing taxonomic system needs to be significantly revised by integrating morphology carefully in the context of a robust backbone phylogeny to allow delineation of monophyletic but unambiguously diagnosable genera.