Revision of Trigastrotheca Cameron (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Braconinae) with descriptions of 13 new species.

The Old World braconine wasp genus Trigastrotheca Cameron is revised. The genus is recorded from the island of Madagascar for the first time based on two new species, T.christianhenrichi Quicke & Butcher, sp. nov. and T.formosa Quicke & Friedman, sp. nov. Trigastrothecagriffini Quicke, sp. nov. is described from Australia; T.aethiopica Quicke & Friedman, sp. nov. is described from Ethiopia; T.braeti Quicke & Butcher, sp. nov. is described from Congo; T.simba van Noort, sp. nov. is described from Tanzania; T.freidbergi Quicke & Friedman, sp. nov., T.carinata Ranjith, sp. nov., T.flava Ranjith, sp. nov. and T.similidentata Ranjith, sp. nov. are described from India; T.khaoyaiensis Quicke & Butcher, sp. nov., T.naniensis Quicke & Butcher, sp. nov., and T.sublobata Quicke & Butcher, sp. nov. are described from Thailand. Trigastrothecatridentata is recorded from Thailand for the first time. A putative female of T.sureeratae is described for the first time. Acroceriliatricolor Quicke & Ingram, 1993 is transferred into Trigastrotheca, as T.acroceropsis nom. nov. A key is provided for the identification of species.

Climate and host-plant associations shaped the evolution of ceutorhynch weevils throughout the Cenozoic.

Using molecular phylogenetic data and methods we inferred divergence times and diversification patterns for the weevil subfamily Ceutorhynchinae in the context of host-plant associations and global climate over evolutionary time. We detected four major diversification shifts that correlate with both host shifts and major climate events. Ceutorhynchinae experienced an increase in diversification rate at ∼53 Ma, during the Early Eocene Climate Optimum, coincident with a host shift to Lamiaceae. A second major diversification phase occurred at the end of the Eocene (∼34 Ma). This contrasts with the overall deterioration in climate equability at the Eocene-Oligocene boundary, but tracks the diversification of important host plant clades in temperate (higher) latitudes, leading to increased diversification rates in the weevil clades infesting temperate hosts. A third major phase of diversification is correlated with the rising temperatures of the Late Oligocene Warming Event (∼26.5 Ma); diversification rates then declined shortly after the Middle Miocene Climate Transition (∼14.9 Ma). Our results indicate that biotic and abiotic factors together explain the evolution of Ceutorhynchinae better than each of these drivers viewed in isolation.

Timing and host plant associations in the evolution of the weevil tribe Apionini (Apioninae, Brentidae, Curculionoidea, Coleoptera) indicate an ancient co-diversification pattern of beetles and flowering plants.

Host plant shifts of insects can lead to a burst of diversification driven by their arrival in a new adaptive zone. In this context, our study aims to explore timing and patterns in the evolution of the weevil tribe Apionini (Brentidae, Curculionoidea, Coleoptera), particularly in relation to affiliations with their host plants. The classification of Apionini is difficult because of their relatively uniform appearance. Most taxa live mono- or oligophagously on members of Asteraceae or Fabaceae, but many are associated with other plant families, like Lamiaceae, Malvaceae and Polygonaceae. However, a comprehensive hypothesis of the phylogenetic relationships within the tribe Apionini is still missing. In the present study, we reconstructed trees and estimated divergence times among tribes. These results were further used to reconstruct the ancestral host plant use in Apionini weevils and to infer if the divergence timing of putative subtribes corresponds with the occurrence and radiation of their specific host plant groups. Phylogenetic analyses confirm the monophyly of most subtribes, with the exceptions of Oxystomatina, Kalcapiina and Aspidapiina. The subribe Aplemonina is inferred to be sister to all remaining Apionini. Divergence time estimates indicate the first occurrence of Apionini in the Upper Cretaceous and a simultaneous occurrence of several families of flowering plants and the occupation by Apionini weevil herbivores. These conspicuous coincidences support either an ancient co-diversification scenario or an escalating diversification in weevils induced by the radiation of flowering plants.