Review and classification of Omethidae (Coleoptera: Elateroidea), with phylogenomic evidence supporting the inclusion of Telegeusinae in the family

Abstract Omethidae are a small family of soft‐bodied beetles, which are classified in the superfamily Elateroidea. The family is composed of 13 extant and one fossil genera and 69 species described from the Americas and East Asia. Members of Omethidae have a particularly heterogeneous morphology, with current members originally described in Cantharidae, Drilidae, Lampyridae, Telegeusidae and Phengodidae. Morphological and molecular‐based phylogenetic hypotheses are still highly divergent, with morphology‐based phylogenies recovering Telegeusinae related to Phengodidae, and multigene phylogenies recovering Telegeusinae as closely related to Omethidae. We implemented a genome skimming sequencing approach to produce genomic data for representatives of all Omethidae subfamilies. The resulting dataset is the first phylogenomic study produced for the family. Our results corroborated previous multigene phylogenies, and recovered Omethidae sister to Artematopodidae, and Telegeusinae as a subfamily of Omethidae, and also rejected the relationships of Telegeusinae with Phengodidae. In contrast to previous molecular‐based hypotheses, Driloniinae were recovered as a sister group to the remaining Omethidae, rendering the following topology: (Artematopodidae + (Driloniinae + (Telegeusinae + (Omethinae + Matheteinae)))). We reviewed the family and presented an updated diagnosis for Omethidae and its subfamilies, as well as identification keys for the subfamilies and genera, and a checklist for all described extant and extinct species.