Dryophthorinae weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) of the forest floor in Southeast Asia: DNA analysis of two new Nephius from Vietnam and Taiwan suggests non-monophyly of Stromboscerini.

The weevil genus Nephius Pascoe is for the first time reported from Vietnam (N. argus sp. nov.) and Taiwan (N. acastus sp. nov.). Until now the genus was attributed to the tribe Stromboscerini and contained nine nominal species and two subspecies known only from the type series. Phylogenetic analysis of one mitochondrial (COI) and two nuclear (ITS2 and 28S) markers strongly rejected monophyly of the tribe by placing the monophyletic Nephius as sister to a clade consisting of reciprocally monophyletic Dryophthorus and the rest of Stromboscerini. All herein used data (localities, DNA sequences, specimen images) are available online in public datasets dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-NEPHIUS1 and dx.doi.org/10.5883/DS-NEPHIUS2.