We provide a detailed systematics account of the Caribbean species, including description of three new ones, and on their example we are demonstrating that combination of morphological and molecular data is necessary to deal with the species-level systematics of the genus.. Origin of the Phaenonotum in the Greater Antilles

The systematics and the phylogenetic position of the Caribbeanrepresentatives of Phaenonotum Sharp (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) areinvestigated in order to understand the composition of the Caribbean faunaand its origin. Phylogenetic analysis based on mitochondrial and nucleargenes has revealed the Caribbean species to be situated in three deeplynested clades, inferring multiple colonization of Caribbean islands from thecontinent. Time-tree analysis and BioGeoBEARS analyses of ancestralranges estimated the oldest clade, consisting of wingless single-islandendemics of Cuba (P. delgadoi), Jamaica (P. ondreji sp. nov.) andHispaniola (P. laterale sp. nov.), to have diverged ca. 46.6 Ma from theSouth American ancestor and subsequently colonizing the Caribbean mostlikely via the GAARlandia land bridge connecting South America withGreater Antilles. The remaining three Caribbean species, including thePuerto Rican endemic, P. borinquenum sp. nov., are of more recent(Miocene to Pliocene) origin and colonized the Greater Antilles by overwaterdispersal. All the Caribbean species are illustrated and diagnosed andthree new species are described. The genus Phaenonotum, excluding P.caribense Archangelsky, is confirmed as a monophylum. We demonstratethat species-level taxonomy of Phaenonotum is difficult to solve bymorphology alone, and ideally requires the combination of morphology andmolecular markers.