New project - phylogeny of the genera of Eustylini

Today I am starting a new project that will concentrate on establishing the monophyly of, and phylogenetic relationship among, a majority of genera placed in or near the weevil tribe Eustylini Lacordaire (Curculioninae: Entiminae sensu Alonso-Zarazaga & Lyal 1999). Here is the initial list of 52 taxa included in the analysis (in alphabetical order).

1. Apodrosus argentatus Wolcott

2. Apodrosus wolcotti Marshall

3. Apotomoderes lateralis (Gyllenhal)

4. Apotomoderes sp. nov. 1 (Mona)

5. Apotomoderes sp. nov. 2 (Jaragua)

6. Artipus floridanus Horn

7. Artipus monae Wolcott

8. Brachyomus bicostatus Faust

9. Brachyomus octotuberculatus (Fabricius)

10. Brachystylus acutus (Say)

11. Chauliopleurus adipatus Champion

12. Compsus argyreus (Linnaeus)

13. Compsus auricephalus (Say)

14. Compsus dentipes Marshall

15. Compsus deplanatus Kirsch

16. Compsus maricao Wolcott

17. Diaprepes abbreviatus (Linnaeus)

18. Diaprepes comma Boheman

19. Diaprepes doublierii Guérin

20. Diaprepes famelicus (Olivier)

21. Diaprepes maugei (Boheman)

22. Eustylus funicularis Kirsch

23. Eustylus puber (Olivier)

24. Exophthalmus hieroglyphicus Chevrolat

25. Exophthalmus jekelianus (White)

26. Exophthalmus marginicollis (Chevrolat)

27. Exophthalmus nicaraguensis Bovie

28. Exophthalmus quadrivittatus (Olivier)

29. Exophthalmus quinquedecimpunctatus (Olivier)

30. Exophthalmus roseipes (Chevrolat)

31. Exophthalmus similis (Drury)

32. Exophthalmus sulcicrus Champion

33. Exophthalmus vittatus (Linnaeus)

34. Exorides corrugatus Marshall

35. Exorides cylindricus Marshall

36. Exorides wagneri (Harold)

37. Ischionoplus niveoguttatus Chevrolat

38. Lachnopus coffeae (Marshall)

39. Lachnopus curvipes (Fabricius)

40. Lachnopus kofresi (Wolcott)

41. Lachnopus splendidus Boheman

42. Lachnopus valgus (Fabricius)
43. Naupactus rivulosus (Olivier)

44. Naupactus vilmae Bordón

45. Pachnaeus citri Marshall

46. Pachnaeus litus (Germar)

47. Pantomorus cervinus (Boheman)

48. Pantomorus elegans (Horn)

49. Phaops thunbergii (Dalman)

50. Rhinospathe albomarginata Chevrolat

51. Scelianoma elydimorpha Franz & Girón

52. Xestogaster viridilimbata (Bovie)

It is not straightforward to explain how exactly this list came about. Much of it is related to specimen availability, yet previously established phylogenetic and taxonomic considerations play a role as well. More on this later.