Application of COI Sequences in Studies of Phylogenetic Relationships Among 40 Apionidae Species

The systematics of the family Apionidae, as well as the superfamily Curculionoidea, is currently in a state of flux. The comparative analyses of COI sequences from our studies shed some light on the systematics of these weevils. To study the relationship among the organisms of the family Apionidae, we determined the COI sequences of representatives of 23 species and 15 genera, i.e., Apion, Betulapion, Catapion, Ceratapion, Cyanapion, Eutrichapion, Exapion, Hemitrichapion, Holotrichapion, Ischnopterapion, Protapion, Pseudoperapion, Psudoprotapion, Pseudostenapion, and Stenopterapion. Then, they were compared with the COI sequences of 19 species and eight genera from GenBank (Aspidapion, Ceratapion, Exapion, Ischnopterapion, Lepidapion, Omphalapion, Oxystoma, and Protapion). The phylogenetic relationships inferred from molecular data are similar to the classification system developed by Alonso-Zarazaga and Lyal (1999), with some exceptions within the tribe Oxystomatini, and genera Ceratapion and Exapion.