Phylogenetic Relationships Of Manonychus Moser Among The Neotropical Melolonthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

Manonychus Moser, 1919 is composed by seven species, all endemic from Brazil, and it is placed in incertae sedis of Melolonthinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Scarabaeidae). This study aimed to test the monophyly of Manonychus and its position among the other genera of the subfamily. Around 184 specimens belonging to seven melolontine tribes and one orphnine were analysed. A total of 66 morphological characters of adults, including mouthparts and male genitalia were built, and 15 are a new contribution to the subfamily. Equal and implied weighting analyses were carried out using TNT program and Fitch parsimony as optimization criteria. From the equal weighting analysis a consensus of two trees was obtained with 340 steps length (ci = 0.221; ri = 0.483); and in the implied weighting analysis one tree was obtained with k = 18.920.302 steps length, and 56.28 of adjusted fit (ci = 0.245; ri = 0.550). Manonychus is monophyletic, its sister clade is composed by Ovomanonychus + (Apterodemidea + Sericoides). All these genera are nested in Sericoidini, subsidising the inclusion of Manonychus and the confirmation of Ovomanonychus in this tribe. The placement of Manonychus rufinus and Manonychus ovalis in Manonychus is corroborated.(c) 2021 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.