Subtribe Helopina

Most clades within Helopina were supported by high statistical values, and the inferred relationships largely agreed with the current taxonomy, given that all sampled genera were recovered as monophyletic (Fig. 1; Supporting Information, Figs S2, S3). Two strongly supported monophyletic groups of genera were identified within Helopina, the first including Euboeus, Catomus, and Stenohelops, and the second Entomogonus, Helops, and Raiboscelis, which seem to be in accordance with the ‘catomoid’ and ‘helopioid’ lineages, respectively, as previously recognized based on the structure of male terminalia. Taxa assigned to the first group are characterized by a median lobe rounded towards the apical part, by a very long phallobase, and by short parameres almost entirely covered with elongate, asperate punctuation and short setae, whereas ‘helopioid’ species possess a median lobe acute at the apex, ossen of gradually diminished thickness towards the end, and by long parameres, only apically covered with short, spiniform bristles (Nabozhenko 2006b). Ŋe genus Nesotes (traditionally assigned to the ‘catomoid’ group) was recovered as sister lineage to all other Helopina in the BI analysis (Fig. 1; Supporting Information Fig. S3), although its placement with regard to the other two clades remains rather uncertain given the weak bootstrap support and concordance factors in the ML analysis (Fig. 1; Supporting Information, Fig. S2). Apart from the uncertainty regarding the placement of Nesotes, the results of our phylogenetic reconstruction within Helopina are largely in agreement with the existing morphological studies, corroborating the currently recognized intergeneric groupings within the subtribe.