ИСТИНА

Цель проекта – изучение систематики и филогении Elateroidea Палеарктики и Ориентальной области с использованием интегративного таксономического подхода

Relevance of the topic. How exactly should we solve problems of taxonomy and phylogenetics in various groups of organisms in an integrated fashion, synthesizing traditional and novel methods, remains an important issue most biologists specializing in systematics have to deal with. It is especially exacerbated in entomology, where knowledge of many taxa is still extremely fragmentary and uneven. This fully applies to such a large superfamily of beetles as Elateroidea. The largest and most famous family belonging to this group is the click beetles family (Elateridae), comprising more than 10,000 species in the world. The classification of Elateridae is constantly being improved, and yet the natural system of click beetles is still very far from its completion. Existing phylogenetic studies of the family as well as of its various subtaxa all suffer from significant drawbacks, such as poor taxon or character sampling, outdated approaches to morphological phylogenetics, extremely flawed testing of both the discovered synapomorphies and clades suggested by the molecular phylogenetic trees. The exact relationships of click beetles with the closely related families of false click beetles (Eucnemidae), Throscidae, Cerophytidae and Brachypsectridae, as well as their internal relationships remain unelucidated. Going beyond the general questions of taxonomy and phylogeny of Elateroidea, their alpha- and beta-taxonomy, distribution, regional composition in most major regions, including Palaearctic and Oriental region, are extremely poorly known. It is noteworthy that even now most taxonomic studies of Elateroidea use a very limited array of methods (as a rule, either qualitative morphological investigation only, or, conversely, molecular phylogenetics without a thorough analysis of morphology). Therefore, the results of such studies can’t always be considered reliable. As a consequence, Elateroidea present themselves as a group very suitable for an Integrative Taxonomy approach, i.e. using the largest possible suite of characters and methods, traditional (using the classical comparative morphology) and modern ones (genetic studies, and morphological and molecular phylogenetics). Application of such an approach to Palearctic and Oriental Elateroidea is the goal of our proposal. During the course of our project, we will focus on the families traditionally included in Elateroidea (i.e. Elateridae, Throscidae, Eucnemidae, Cerophytidae and Brachypsectridae), while considering other elateroids as outgroups. Scientific novelty: 1) We will conduct for the first time a large-scale and comprehensive critical analysis of the characters traditionally used in taxonomy of various Elateroidea subtaxa, and additionally will find new, phylogenetically reliable characters. It follows from our original unpublished data that many so-far unexplored characters of the genitalia can be used as such with great success, because their particular states unambiguously characterize many suprageneric taxa of Elateroidea. Aside from recent taxa, we will review in detail all the data on the morphology of extinct Elateroidea, which will allow us to compose an exhaustive set of character states and clarify some aspects of the group’s evolution. 2) We will sequence a significant amount of taxa for the first time. We will also review the results obtained by other authors, which will allow us to assess the reliability of various methods used at each step of the molecular phylogenetics pipeline for Elateroidea, and, most importantly, propose new, more refined approaches on that front. 3) Using the assembled morphological and molecular datasets, we will apply a set of modern phylogenetic methods that is unprecedented in the history of study of Elateroidea. This will produce reliable estimates of their phylogeny and allow us to make the elateroid taxonomy much more accurate. Some methods and evolutionary models developed only very recently will be applied to Elateroidea for the first time. 4) We will describe new taxa in Elateridae, Eucnemidae and Throscidae, produce catalogues and revisions of various taxa within these families, regional lists for poorly studied areas and publish new data on the distribution, taxonomy and fauna of several so-far unstudied taxa of Palaearctic and Oriental Elateroidea. The Integrative Taxonomy approach with the advantage of using both morphological and molecular data will clarify the status and relationships of a number of poorly known taxa. The results and end products of our project will find wide application well beyond the research of taxonomy and fauna of Elateroidea. For example, the revisions and identification keys produced by us will be in high demand by ecologists, agricultural entomologists and specialists of plant quarantine services. The synergy of different phylogenetic methods, being directly tested here by us on a particular group, will be of considerable theoretical interest to phylogeneticists and practicing taxonomists, who specialize in different groups, including those that are very far from insects on the Tree of Life. Our biogeographical data will allow us to further clarify the history of fauna of the corresponding regions. To summarize, the results of our project will be of universal importance.

1) Будут выявлены и описаны филогенетически надежные морфологические и молекулярно-генетические признаки, пригодные для использования в систематике разных таксонов Elateroidea, в том числе и ранее неизвестные. 2) Будут разработаны и описаны методы молекулярно-генетических исследований, наиболее пригодные для изучения разных групп Elateroidea. 3) Будут впервые получены молекулярно-генетические данные для значительного числа таксонов Elateroidea. 4) Будет усовершенствована общая система Elateroidea и получены наиболее непротиворечивые данные о систематическом положении подчиненных таксонов надсемейства. 5) Будет разработана и описана общая методология комплексного таксономического исследования для работы с разными группами Elateroidea, способная стать стандартом в изучении надсемейства. 6) Будут описаны новые таксоны Elateridae, Eucnemidae и Throscidae Палеарктики и Ориентальной области. 7) Планируется создание каталогов нескольких родов Elateridae Палеарктики и Ориентальной области. 8) Будет проведены и опубликованы ревизии отдельных групп Elateridae, Eucnemidae и Throscidae Палеарктики и Ориентальной области, включающие определительные ключи. 9) Будут получены новые и уточнены опубликованные данные по морфологии, распространению и таксономическому положению ряда малоизученных таксонов Elateroidea Палеарктики и Ориентальной области. 10) Будут составлены и опубликованы фаунистические списки Elateroidea для нескольких малоизученных территорий Палеарктики и Ориентальной области.

Все члены научного коллектива – квалифицированные энтомологи, они активно публикуются, в том числе и в высокорейтинговых изданиях. Двое из участников проекта - профессиональные колеоптерологи, одни из ведущих в мире специалистов по рассматриваемым в проекте семействам жуков. Двое других участников владеют необходимыми знаниями и методами обработки морфологических и молекулярных данных для реконструкции филогенеза, поэтому их участие в проекте поможет полнее и качественнее проанализировать и интерпретировать весь набор признаков, доступный для изучения Elateroidea на современном уровне