Phylogenetic position of threatened jewel beetles of the genus <i>Tokaranodicerca</i> ( <scp>Coleoptera: Buprestidae</scp> ) with implications for conservation

Abstract The extremely rare jewel beetles of the genus Tokaranodicerca Hattori (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) are distributed in isolated and small areas in and near villages in Japan and Vietnam, raising immediate conservation concerns. The present study investigated the molecular phylogeny among Tokaranodicerca and related genera ( Dicerca and Touzalinia ) using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequences as the fundamental knowledge for conservation. The phylogenetic analyses revealed that the genus Tokaranodicerca formed a monophyletic clade and was sister to the genus Touzalinia , which is consistent with the previous phylogenetic study based on morphology. The two Japanese species, Tokaranodicerca nishidai and Tokaranodicerca shimonoi were genetically distant from each other despite their close distribution areas and similar biology, particularly their association with aged Morus trees, indicating that they should be treated as different conservation units. In addition, the morphology of Vietnamese species Tokaranodicerca vietnamensis , which was not examined in this study, is more similar to that of T. shimonoi than T. nishidai . Therefore, the presence of undescribed Tokaranodicerca species is expected in East Asia. For conservation of Tokaranodicerca , protection of rural forests containing thick‐trunked, aged Morus trees in East Asia is important.