Toward a natural classification of opatrine darkling beetles: comparative study of female terminalia

The opatrine darkling beetles (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Opatrini) are a worldwide radiation of ~1200 described species, with many more still awaiting discovery. This paper presents results of the first comparative morphological study of the female terminalia of this group. The structure of ovipositor and female genital tubes proved to be extremely useful for delimiting phylogenetic relationships within Opatrini. The following new lineages are...