The first molecular phylogeny of Blosyrini weevils (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) rejects monophyly of the tribe and documents a new Asian clade with the highest diversity in the Hengduan Mountains.

This paper targets diversity and phylogeny of the Old World weevil tribe Blosyrini and, specifically, its Asian members. Phylogenetic analysis of one mitochondrial and two nuclear DNA fragments from 78 terminals reveals that Blosyrini weevils, although monophyletic in Asia, in Madagascar, and in continental Africa, do not share a unique common ancestor. Instead, they form a strongly supported clade together with representatives of two other tribes of broad-nosed weevils: Cneorhinini and Dermatodini. The Asian members of the tribe form a moderately supported clade, of which the monophyletic genus Trachyphloeoides is a sister to the strongly supported rest, Blosyrini Clade X (BCX). Owing to the convoluted and non-phylogenetic taxonomy, BCX cannot be at present reliably referred to by any existing genus-group name. All 112 DNA barcodes of BCX (including one larva) from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Nepal form 34 Barcode Index Numbers (BINs). Each of seven comprehensively sampled mountainous localities in Sichuan (Gongga Shan, Emei Shan, Songpan) and Yunnan (Cang Shan, Gaoligong Shan, Haba Shan, Jizu Shan) supports between one and six BINs of BCX. With two exceptions, all BINs of BCX in Sichuan (8) and Yunnan (10) display strong biological preferences for either mid-altitude primary deciduous forests or the high elevation alpine zone. Seven strongly supported clades are recognized within BCX, some of them morphologically diagnosable. Temporal analysis corroborates the results of BIN clustering and interrelationships within BCX. The most recent common ancestor of BCX lived in the mid-Miocene (14.15 Ma, 95% confidence interval 17.511.2 Ma), with much of the subsequent diversification preceding or coinciding with the Pliocene-Pleistocene climatic fluctuations.