Molecular Phylogenetic Relationships of Flightless Beetles Belonging to the Genus Mesechthistatus Breuning, (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Inferred from Mitochondrial COI Gene Sequences.

The longicorn beetles belonging to the genus MesechthistatusBreuning., 1950 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) cannot fly since their hindwings are atrophied. This slows down gene flow between local populations. Currently, it is considered that the genus contains four endemic species from the eastern Honshu Is., Japan, M. binodosus, M. furciferus, M. taniguchii and M. fujisanus, that are distributed parapatrically. Sequence analyses of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene suggests that lineages of mitochondrial haplotypes split approximately in the same era. However, this result is not consistent with the monophyly of morphological species. The estimated evolutionary rate of the COI gene in other insects suggests that mitochondrial haplotypes of Mesechthistatus differentiated at the end of the Pliocene epoch during the Tertiary era.