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Christiane Weirauch - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Reduvius frommeri, a new species of Reduviidae from the Western United States (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), with a synopsis of the Nearctic species of Reduvius Fabricius.
Zootaxa, 2015Co-Authors: Christiane Weirauch, Kaleigh A. Russell, Wei Song HwangAbstract:The rate of discovery of new species of Reduviidae (Insecta: Heteroptera) from North America has slowed in the 21st century. This is not surprising, given the conspicuousness and large distribution ranges of many Nearctic assassin bug species that are often collected using general insect collecting techniques. Nevertheless, biodiversity discovery in Nearctic Reduviidae is ongoing. We here describe a new species, Reduvius frommeri, n. sp., from Southern California that is so far only known from a small endemic range in the Sonoran Desert. With about 197 species, the genus Reduvius Fabricius is one of the most speciose genera of Reduviidae. The majority of species occur in arid- and semi-arid areas in the Afrotropical, Oriental, and Palearctic regions and only three species are New World endemics. A fourth species that occurs in the United States, Reduvius personatus Fabricius, is cosmopolitan and has been introduced to the Western Nearctic. The new species of Reduvius stands out amongst the four other Nearctic Reduvius species by the small size and pale body coloration with a contrasting dark head. Image plates documenting habitus and selected morphological details and maps are provided for the five species in the Nearctic. We conclude that efforts to document species diversity and distribution ranges even for conspicuous insects such as assassin bugs in fairly well studied biogeographic regions need to continue.
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an illustrated identification key to assassin bug subfamilies and tribes hemiptera Reduviidae
Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, 2014Co-Authors: Christiane Weirauch, J M Berenger, Lily Berniker, Dimitri Forero, Michael Forthman, Sarah Frankenberg, A Freedman, Eric R L Gordon, Rochelle Hoeychamberlain, Wei Song HwangAbstract:Reduviidae (assassin bugs) is the second largest family of the hemipteran suborder Heteroptera (true bugs). The family contains 25 subfamilies, the largest number amongst true bugs, and 28 tribes. Most previously published keys do not include all recognized subfamilies and even complete keys lead to incorrect identification of certain taxa. We here present a comprehensive and well-illustrated identification key to subfamilies and tribes (except Emesinae) of Reduviidae. The key is complemented by taxon treatments that provide, for each subfamily, diagnostic features, notes on taxonomy and distribution, a comment on taxa occurring in Canada, natural history notes, and a short bibliography.
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sticky predators a comparative study of sticky glands in harpactorine assassin bugs insecta hemiptera Reduviidae
Acta Zoologica, 2013Co-Authors: Guanyang Zhang, Christiane WeirauchAbstract:Zhang, G. and Weirauch, C. 2013. Sticky predators: a comparative study of sticky glands in harpactorine assassin bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae). — Acta Zoologica (Stockholm) 94: 1–10. For more than 50 years, specialized dermal glands that secrete sticky substances and specialized setae have been known from the legs of New World assassin bugs in the genus Zelus Fabricius (Reduviidae: Harpactorinae). The gland secretions and specialized ‘sundew setae’ are involved in enhancing predation success. We here refer to this predation strategy as ‘sticky trap predation’ and the specialized dermal glands as ‘sticky glands’. To determine how widespread sticky trap predation is among Reduviidae, we investigated taxonomic distribution of sticky glands and sundew setae using compound light microscopical and scanning electron microscopical techniques and sampling 67 species of Reduviidae that represent 50 genera of Harpactorini. We found sticky glands in 12 genera of Harpactorini and thus show that sticky trap predation is much more widespread than previously suspected. The sticky glands vary in shape, size and density, but are always located in a dorsolateral position on the fore tibia. Sundew setae are present in all taxa with sticky glands with the exception of Heza that instead possesses unique lamellate setae. The sticky trap predation taxa are restricted to the New World, suggesting a New World origin of this unique predation
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Evolutionary History of Assassin Bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae): Insights from Divergence Dating and Ancestral State Reconstruction
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Wei Song Hwang, Christiane WeirauchAbstract:Assassin bugs are one of the most successful clades of predatory animals based on their species numbers (∼6,800 spp.) and wide distribution in terrestrial ecosystems. Various novel prey capture strategies and remarkable prey specializations contribute to their appeal as a model to study evolutionary pathways involved in predation. Here, we reconstruct the most comprehensive reduviid phylogeny (178 taxa, 18 subfamilies) to date based on molecular data (5 markers). This phylogeny tests current hypotheses on reduviid relationships emphasizing the polyphyletic Reduviinae and the blood-feeding, disease-vectoring Triatominae, and allows us, for the first time in assassin bugs, to reconstruct ancestral states of prey associations and microhabitats. Using a fossil-calibrated molecular tree, we estimated divergence times for key events in the evolutionary history of Reduviidae. Our results indicate that the polyphyletic Reduviinae fall into 11–14 separate clades. Triatominae are paraphyletic with respect to the reduviine genus Opisthacidius in the maximum likelihood analyses; this result is in contrast to prior hypotheses that found Triatominae to be monophyletic or polyphyletic and may be due to the more comprehensive taxon and character sampling in this study. The evolution of blood-feeding may thus have occurred once or twice independently among predatory assassin bugs. All prey specialists evolved from generalist ancestors, with multiple evolutionary origins of termite and ant specializations. A bark-associated life style on tree trunks is ancestral for most of the lineages of Higher Reduviidae; living on foliage has evolved at least six times independently. Reduviidae originated in the Middle Jurassic (178 Ma), but significant lineage diversification only began in the Late Cretaceous (97 Ma). The integration of molecular phylogenetics with fossil and life history data as presented in this paper provides insights into the evolutionary history of reduviids and clears the way for in-depth evolutionary hypothesis testing in one of the most speciose clades of predators.
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Tribelocodia ashei, new genus and new species of Reduviidae (Insecta: Hemiptera), has implications on character evolution in Ectrichodiinae and Tribelocephalinae.
Insect Systematics & Evolution, 2010Co-Authors: Christiane WeirauchAbstract:A new genus and species of Reduviidae, Tribelocodia ashei gen.n., sp.n, are described from French Guyana. The relationships of Tribelocodia are analyzed within the context of a morphology-based cladistic analysis of Reduviidae. The new genus is placed within the clade Ectrichodiinae+Tribelocephalinae and shows a bizarre combination of characters thought synapomorphic for either Ectrichodiinae or Tribelocephalinae. The analyses support Tribelocodia as the sister taxon to the enigmatic African Xenocaucini within Tribelocephalinae. Tribelocodia ashei, therefore, represents the first Neotropical species of this otherwise Paleotropical group. Implications for character evolution of Ectrichodiinae and Tribelocephalinae are discussed and the diagnosis of Tribelocephalinae is revised. Scanning electron and digital micrographs are provided for Tribelocodia ashei. The holotype of Xenocaucus mancinii China and Usinger, 1949 (Xenocaucini) and a specimen of Ectrichodiella minima (Valdes, 1910), which may represent the sister taxon to the remaining Ectrichodiinae, are illustrated using digital photography.
Hélcio R. Gil-santana - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Transfer of the assassin bug Helonotus pallidulus Walker to the genus Heza Amyot & Serville (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Reduviidae, Harpactorinae, Harpactorini).
ZooKeys, 2019Co-Authors: Hélcio R. Gil-santana, Michael D. WebbAbstract:Based on examination of its holotype, Helonotus pallidulus Walker, 1873 is transferred to the genus Heza Amyot & Serville, 1843 with the resulting new combination: Heza pallidula (Walker, 1873), comb. nov. (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Reduviidae, Harpactorinae, Harpactorini). A comparison with the similar Heza ventralis Stal,1872 is provided.
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A new species of Phasmatocoris from French Guiana, with short taxonomic notes on two described species and an updated key (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae)
Zootaxa, 2018Co-Authors: Hélcio R. Gil-santanaAbstract:Phasmatocoris papei sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini) is described from French Guiana based on two male specimens. Short taxonomical notes on Phasmatocoris praecellens (Bergroth, 1911) and Ph. spectrum Breddin, 1904 are provided. An updated key to the species of Phasmatocoris Breddin, 1904 is presented.
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A new species of Dohrnemesa and a new species of Polauchenia from Brazil (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae).
Zootaxa, 2017Co-Authors: Hélcio R. Gil-santana, Rodrigo Lopes FerreiraAbstract:Dohrnemesa kuarajucassaba sp. nov. and Polauchenia paraprotentor sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini) are described respectively from states of Minas Gerais and Para, Brazil. Both species described here were collected from caves. Updated keys to the species of Dohrnemesa Wygodzinsky, 1945 and Polauchenia McAtee & Malloch, 1925 are presented.
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A new species of Dohrnemesa from Brazil, with notes on the male of D. carvalhoi and on D. albuquerquei (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae)
Zootaxa, 2016Co-Authors: Hélcio R. Gil-santana, Rodrigo Lopes FerreiraAbstract:Dohrnemesa oliveirai sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini) is described from state of Para, Brazil, based on a male specimen. The male genitalia of D. carvalhoi (Wygodzinsky, 1966) is described for the first time and some notes about D. albuquerquei (Wygodzinsky, 1966) are furnished.
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Transfer of the assassin bug Nitornus fuliginosus to the genus Apronius (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Stenopodainae)
Zootaxa, 2016Co-Authors: Hélcio R. Gil-santana, Michael D. WebbAbstract:Based on examination of its lectotype (here designated), the assassin bug Nitornus fuliginosus Distant, 1902 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Stenopodainae) is transferred to the genus Apronius Stål, 1865, with the resulting new combination: Apronius fuliginosus (Distant, 1902), comb. nov.
Wei Song Hwang - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Reduvius frommeri, a new species of Reduviidae from the Western United States (Hemiptera: Reduviidae), with a synopsis of the Nearctic species of Reduvius Fabricius.
Zootaxa, 2015Co-Authors: Christiane Weirauch, Kaleigh A. Russell, Wei Song HwangAbstract:The rate of discovery of new species of Reduviidae (Insecta: Heteroptera) from North America has slowed in the 21st century. This is not surprising, given the conspicuousness and large distribution ranges of many Nearctic assassin bug species that are often collected using general insect collecting techniques. Nevertheless, biodiversity discovery in Nearctic Reduviidae is ongoing. We here describe a new species, Reduvius frommeri, n. sp., from Southern California that is so far only known from a small endemic range in the Sonoran Desert. With about 197 species, the genus Reduvius Fabricius is one of the most speciose genera of Reduviidae. The majority of species occur in arid- and semi-arid areas in the Afrotropical, Oriental, and Palearctic regions and only three species are New World endemics. A fourth species that occurs in the United States, Reduvius personatus Fabricius, is cosmopolitan and has been introduced to the Western Nearctic. The new species of Reduvius stands out amongst the four other Nearctic Reduvius species by the small size and pale body coloration with a contrasting dark head. Image plates documenting habitus and selected morphological details and maps are provided for the five species in the Nearctic. We conclude that efforts to document species diversity and distribution ranges even for conspicuous insects such as assassin bugs in fairly well studied biogeographic regions need to continue.
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an illustrated identification key to assassin bug subfamilies and tribes hemiptera Reduviidae
Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification, 2014Co-Authors: Christiane Weirauch, J M Berenger, Lily Berniker, Dimitri Forero, Michael Forthman, Sarah Frankenberg, A Freedman, Eric R L Gordon, Rochelle Hoeychamberlain, Wei Song HwangAbstract:Reduviidae (assassin bugs) is the second largest family of the hemipteran suborder Heteroptera (true bugs). The family contains 25 subfamilies, the largest number amongst true bugs, and 28 tribes. Most previously published keys do not include all recognized subfamilies and even complete keys lead to incorrect identification of certain taxa. We here present a comprehensive and well-illustrated identification key to subfamilies and tribes (except Emesinae) of Reduviidae. The key is complemented by taxon treatments that provide, for each subfamily, diagnostic features, notes on taxonomy and distribution, a comment on taxa occurring in Canada, natural history notes, and a short bibliography.
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Evolutionary History of Assassin Bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae): Insights from Divergence Dating and Ancestral State Reconstruction
PloS one, 2012Co-Authors: Wei Song Hwang, Christiane WeirauchAbstract:Assassin bugs are one of the most successful clades of predatory animals based on their species numbers (∼6,800 spp.) and wide distribution in terrestrial ecosystems. Various novel prey capture strategies and remarkable prey specializations contribute to their appeal as a model to study evolutionary pathways involved in predation. Here, we reconstruct the most comprehensive reduviid phylogeny (178 taxa, 18 subfamilies) to date based on molecular data (5 markers). This phylogeny tests current hypotheses on reduviid relationships emphasizing the polyphyletic Reduviinae and the blood-feeding, disease-vectoring Triatominae, and allows us, for the first time in assassin bugs, to reconstruct ancestral states of prey associations and microhabitats. Using a fossil-calibrated molecular tree, we estimated divergence times for key events in the evolutionary history of Reduviidae. Our results indicate that the polyphyletic Reduviinae fall into 11–14 separate clades. Triatominae are paraphyletic with respect to the reduviine genus Opisthacidius in the maximum likelihood analyses; this result is in contrast to prior hypotheses that found Triatominae to be monophyletic or polyphyletic and may be due to the more comprehensive taxon and character sampling in this study. The evolution of blood-feeding may thus have occurred once or twice independently among predatory assassin bugs. All prey specialists evolved from generalist ancestors, with multiple evolutionary origins of termite and ant specializations. A bark-associated life style on tree trunks is ancestral for most of the lineages of Higher Reduviidae; living on foliage has evolved at least six times independently. Reduviidae originated in the Middle Jurassic (178 Ma), but significant lineage diversification only began in the Late Cretaceous (97 Ma). The integration of molecular phylogenetics with fossil and life history data as presented in this paper provides insights into the evolutionary history of reduviids and clears the way for in-depth evolutionary hypothesis testing in one of the most speciose clades of predators.
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Systematics of Reduviidae with Emphases on Reduviinae, Triatominae and Physoderinae
2012Co-Authors: Wei Song HwangAbstract:Reduviidae (assassin bugs), the largest clade of predatory non-holometabolous insects (~6,800 species), display a range of prey specializations and members of one subfamily, the Triatominae, feed on vertebrate blood and are the vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi. A combination of phylogenetic analyses and taxonomic revisions of several target taxa are conducted to improve our knowledge of reduviid systematics. The emphasis is on resolving the highly polyphyletic Reduviinae, shedding light on the prevalence of trypanosomes in a species of endemic Triatominae in Southern California, revising a genus of Malagasy Reduviinae and the Indo-Pacific group of Physoderinae, a group once thought to be sister to the Triatominae.A higher-level phylogeny of Reduviidae (178 taxa, 18 subfamilies) is reconstructed to investigate the relationships among subfamilies using five gene regions, with extensive sampling of the polyphyletic Reduviinae. Results indicate that Reduviinae fall into 11-14 separate clades and Triatominae may be paraphyletic. The evolution of blood-feeding may thus have occurred once or twice independently among predatory reduviids. Fossil-calibrated divergence time estimates show that Reduviidae originated in the Middle Jurassic (~178Ma), but the majority of extant lineages only emerged in the Late Cretaceous (~97Ma). Ancestral state reconstructions indicate bark-association as the ancestral microhabitat for Higher Reduviidae.A survey on the infection rate of Triatoma protracta with T. cruzi in Southern California show relatively high rates (19-36%) with geographical variability but no clear temporal differences. A taxonomic revision of the Malagasy endemic reduviine Durevius is provided and 2 new species described.A phylogenetic analysis of Physoderinae (57 taxa) based on 57 morphological characters (50 discrete, 7 continuous) indicate that the Neotropical Physoderinae are sister to all remaining Physoderinae except Porcelloderes. The morphologically diverse Malagasy physoderines are not monophyletic. Physoderine diversity in the Oriental and Australasian regions is here revised based on the most extensive collection of specimens (902) assembled to date. Based on the phylogenetic analysis, the generic classification of Old World Physoderinae is revised. Three new genera are created, 15 new species described, 11 new combinations created, and 14 synonyms established. Diagnoses and identification keys for Old World genera are provided and species illustrated.
Wanzhi Cai - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Redescription of the African assassin bug Ectomocoris proximus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) with a new synonymy.
Zootaxa, 2020Co-Authors: Yingqi Liu, Michael D. Webb, Wanzhi CaiAbstract:The African peiratine assassin bug species, Ectomocoris proximus Miller, 1952 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) is redescribed and E. limbatus Miller, 1952, syn. nov., is placed as its junior synonym. Types of both nominal species were examined, habitus images and figures of the male genitalia are provided.
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A new species of the assassin bug genus Rihirbus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) from Vietnam.
Zootaxa, 2020Co-Authors: Truong Xuan Lam, Bui Thi Quynh Hoa, Ha Ngoc Linh, Wanzhi CaiAbstract:Rihirbus kronganaensis sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) is described from central highlands of Vietnam. A key to the species of Rihirbus Stål, 1861 is presented.
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First record of Holoptilinae from Pakistan, with the redescription of Holoptilus fasciatus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae).
Zootaxa, 2019Co-Authors: Syed Ishfaq Ali Shah, Azaz Ahmad, Wanzhi CaiAbstract:The assassin bug subfamily Holoptilinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) is recorded from Pakistan for the first time. Holoptilus fasciatus Reuter, 1881, newly recorded from Pakistan, is redescribed, its dorsal habitus and diagnostic morphological characters are illustrated.
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Mitochondrial genome of Phalantus geniculatus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae): trnT duplication and phylogenetic implications.
International journal of biological macromolecules, 2019Co-Authors: Ziqiang Sun, Yingqi Liu, John-james Wilson, Zhuo Chen, Fan Song, Wanzhi CaiAbstract:Abstract Reduviidae is the second largest family of Heteroptera and most of them are important natural enemies of agricultural and forest pests. Most of the sequenced mitochondrial (mt) genomes in this family have the typical gene arrangement of insects and encode 37 coding genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA genes and two rRNA genes). In the present study, we sequenced the mt genome of Phalantus geniculatus from the subfamily Peiratinae through high-throughput sequencing and encountered the duplication of tRNA genes for the first time in this subfamily. We identified 23 tRNA genes, including 22 tRNAs commonly found in insect mt genomes and an extra trnT ( trnT2 ), which has high sequence similarity (96.9%) to trnT1 . The presence of a “ pseudo - trnP ” in the non-coding region between trnT1 and trnT2 supports the hypothesis that the presence of two of an extra trnT can be explained by the tandem duplication-random loss (TDRL) model. Phylogenetic results inferred from mt genome sequences supported a sister relationship between Phymatinae and the remaining sampled subfamilies, as well as a paraphyletic Reduviinae. The present study highlights the utility of mt genomes in the phylogenetic study of Reduviidae based on the large scale taxon sampling in the future.
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Epidaus wangi (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae), a new assassin bug from Tibet, China.
Zootaxa, 2016Co-Authors: Zhuo Chen, Guang-xiang Zhu, Jianyun Wang, Wanzhi CaiAbstract:Epidaus wangi Chen, Zhu, Wang & Cai, sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) from Tibet, China, is described and illustrated based on male and female specimens. The new species is morphologically similar to E. tuberosus Yang, 1940. The new species represents the first record of Epidaus species from Tibet.
George Poinar - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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a primitive triatomine bug paleotriatoma metaxytaxa gen et sp nov hemiptera Reduviidae triatominae in mid cretaceous amber from northern myanmar
Cretaceous Research, 2019Co-Authors: George PoinarAbstract:Abstract The present study describes a primitive kissing bug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae) in mid-Cretaceous amber from northern Myanmar. The fossil, which is described as Paleotriatoma metaxytaxa gen. et sp. nov., contains a predominance of features of the Triatominae as well as some characters of the Reduviinae and is considered an intermediate fossil representing an early progenitor of the Triatominae. Based on the present distribution of the Triatominae and recent studies indicating that Burmese amber fossils could have originated in Gondwana, it is proposed that Paleotriatoma metaxytaxa is a Gondwanan lineage that evolved in the mid-Cretaceous. The specimen contains developing trypanosome flagellates in its hindgut, suggesting that early triatomines could have been vectoring pathogenic protozoa to vertebrates some 100 Ma.
