Mitogenomics and hidden-trait models reveal the role of phoresy and host shifts in the diversification of parasitoid blister beetles (Coleoptera: Meloidae).

Changes in life history traits are often considered speciation triggers and can have dramatic effects on the evolutionary history of a lineage. Here, we examine the consequences of changes in two life history traits, host-type and phoresy, in the hypermetamorphic blister beetles, Meloidae. Subfamilies Nemognathinae and Meloinae exhibit a complex life cycle involving multiple metamorphoses and parasitoidism.

High extinction rates and non-adaptive radiation explains patterns of low diversity and extreme morphological disparity in North American blister beetles (Coleoptera, Meloidae).

Untangling the relationship between morphological evolution and lineage diversification is key to explain global patterns of phenotypic disparity across the Tree of Life. Few studies have examined the relationship between high morphological disparity and extinction. In this study, we infer phylogenetic relationships and lineage divergence times within Eupomphini (Meloidae), a tribe of blister beetles endemic to the arid zone of North America, which exhibits a puzzling pattern of very low species richness but wild variation in morphological diversity across extant taxa.