Phylogenetic analyses provide new insights into systematics of the longhorned beetle tribe Acrocinini (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae)

Acrocinini is a Neotropical tribe of Lamiinae (Cerambycidae) with a single species: Acrocinus longimanus (Linnaeus, 1758). Conspicuous autapomorphic characters in this species have led to divergent interpretations of the morphological body plan of the tribe and its affinities with species of Macropophora Thomson, 1864 and some species of Oreodera Audinet-Serville, 1835. Therefore, Acrocinini has not always been a monotypic tribe, and its taxonomic composition has changed according to the inclusive or exclusive placement of species of Macropophora and Oreodera. We carried out phylogenetic analyses, using maximum parsimony and Bayesian criteria, based on 34 morphological characters and 22 taxa in order to evaluate the taxonomic limits of Acrocinini and to infer the relationship among Acrocinus Illiger, 1806, Macropophora and Oreodera. Our results reveal a close relationship among these three genera, supported by six synapomorphies: prothorax with a suture surrounding the lateral tubercle; pronotum with linear coarse punctuation near posterior margin; protibia cylindrical; protibia with a projection near sulcus at inner face; protibia without a pair of apical spurs at inner margin; and protarsomere II longer than wide. New evidence confirms that Acrocinini includes Acrocinus, Macropophora and Oreodera, and increases the number of characters that define the tribe. Additionally, we present new records of Macropophora accentifer (Olivier, 1795) for Brazil (Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul) and of Macropophora trochlearis (Linnaeus, 1758) for Venezuela and Northern Brazil (Amapa, Acre and Rondonia).