The evolutionary history of the ancient weevil family Belidae (Coleoptera: Curculionoidea) reveals the marks of Gondwana breakup and major floristic turnovers, including the rise of angiosperms
The rise of angiosperms to ecological dominance and the breakup of Gondwana during the Mesozoic marked major transitions in the evolutionary history of insect-plant interactions. To elucidate how contemporary trophic interactions were influenced by host plant shifts and palaeogeographical events, we integrated molecular data with information from the fossil record to construct a time tree for ancient phytophagous weevils of the beetle family Belidae. Our analyses indicate that crown-group Belidae originated approximately 138 Ma ago in Gondwana, associated with Pinopsida (conifer) host plants, with larvae likely developing in dead/decaying branches. Belids tracked their host plants as major plate movements occurred during Gondwana’s breakup, surviving on distant, disjunct landmasses. Some belids shifted to Angiospermae and Cycadopsida when and where conifers declined, evolving new trophic interactions, including brood-pollination mutualisms with cycads and associations with achlorophyllous parasitic angiosperms. Extant radiations of belids in the genera Rhinotia (Australian region) and Proterhinus (Hawaiian Islands) have relatively recent origins.
Authors
- Duane D. McKenna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7823-8727)
- M. Silvia Ferrer
- Brian D. Farrell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6843-0539)
- Shayla Salzman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6808-7542)
- Dave Clarke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2089-0859)
- Adriana E. Marvaldi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6029-4803)
- Seunggwan Shin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4258-8661)
- Xuankun Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0622-2064)
- Rolf G. Oberprieler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1837-580X)
- Andrea S. Sequeira
- William Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9009-3113)
- Charles W. O’Brien
Institutions
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (AU)
- Harvard University (US)
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (AR)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Wellesley College (US)
- Australian National Insect Collection (AU)
- Institute for Biodiversity (DE)
- Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (AR)
- Florida State Collection of Arthropods (US)
- ACT Government (AU)
- China Agricultural University (CN)
- Universidad Nacional de La Plata (AR)
- University of Memphis (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- eLife
- Published
- 2024-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.97552.3
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Botany and Geology in Latin America and Caribbean
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.03
Funders
- China Agricultural University
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas