Hemiptera, the largest non-holometabolous order of insects, represents approximately 7% of metazoan diversity. With extraordinary life histories and highly specialized morphological adaptations, hemipterans have exploited diverse habitats and food sources through approximately 300 Myr of evolution. To elucidate the phylogeny and evolutionary history of Hemiptera, we carried out the most comprehensive mitogenomics analysis on the richest taxon sampling to date covering all the suborders and infraorders, including 34 newly sequenced and 94 published mitogenomes. With optimized branch length and sequence heterogeneity, Bayesian analyses using a site-heterogeneous mixture model resolved the higher-level hemipteran phylogeny as (Sternorrhyncha, (Auchenorrhyncha, (Coleorrhyncha, Heteroptera))). Ancestral character state reconstruction and divergence time estimation suggest that the success of true bugs (Heteroptera) is probably due to angiosperm coevolution, but key adaptive innovations (e.g. prognathous mouthpart, predatory behaviour, and haemelytron) facilitated multiple independent shifts among diverse feeding habits and multiple independent colonizations of aquatic habitats.

Between 1977 and 1980 we evaluated 40 patients who developed brain metastases from colon cancer (4% of total patients with colon cancer). The brain metastasis was discovered in only one patient prior to cancer diagnosis; all others had known colon cancer for 2 to 48 months (median 24.5 months) prior to neurologic presentation. The colon tumor was left-sided in 32; 32 had regional lymph node metastases at neurological presentation; 37 patients had extensive systemic metastasis as well as the brain lesion. Median survival from onset of therapy for brain metastasis was 9 weeks in 32 radiation therapy (RT) treated patients (range, 2-57 weeks), 37 weeks in 7 surgically resected patients (2-84 weeks), and 4 weeks (3.5 weeks) in 2 chemotherapy patients. Follow-up demonstrated recurrent tumor (median 4 months). The prognosis for patients with brain metastasis in colon cancer is poor, regardless of therapy.

We provide the first molecular phylogeny of the clerid lineage (Coleoptera: Cleridae, Thanerocleridae) within the superfamily Cleroidea to examine the two most recently proposed hypotheses of higher level classification. Phylogenetic relationships of checkered beetles were inferred from approximately ∼5000 nt of both nuclear and mitochondrial rDNA (28S, 16S and 12S) and the mitochondrial protein‐coding gene COI. A worldwide sample of ∼70 genera representing almost a quarter of generic diversity of the clerid lineage was included and phylogenies were reconstructed using Bayesian and Maximum Likelihood approaches. Results support the monophyly of many proposed subfamilies but were not entirely congruent with either current classification system. The subfamilial relationships within the Cleridae are resolved with support for three main lineages. Tillinae are supported as the sister group to all other subfamilies within the Cleridae, whereas Thaneroclerinae, Korynetinae and a new subfamily formally described here, Epiclininae subf.n., form a sister group to Clerinae + Hydnocerinae.

This checklist presents the distribution of the checkered beetle subfamily Tillinae (Coleoptera: Cleridae) in the New World. Information for 164 species and 2 subspecies from 11 genera is included. The data are based on an extensive survey of material collected throughout the Americas, descriptions of new species, a number of revisionary works, data from museum specimens, as well as unpublished checklists. Cymatodera, the most speciose tilline genus in the New World, has its greatest diversity in Mexico where 100 of the 134 recognized species are known to occur. Remaining genera inhabiting the New World and corresponding species numbers are: Araeodontia, 5 species; Barrotillus, 1 species; Bogcia, 2 species; Bostrichoclerus, 1 species; Callotillus, 5 species; Cylidrus, 1 species; Cymatoderella, 3 species; Lecontella, 3 species; Monophylla, 4 species; and Onychotillus, 5 species. An illustrated key to the genera of the New World Tillinae is provided. Forty-eight new country records are given for 35 species. References are presented for all species listed. Distribution maps for all New World genera are provided and locality data is presented for selected species.

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Lectotypes were designated (and holotypes and paralectotypes recognized) for 44 species of Hydnocerinae, including the type species for Isolemidia, Parmius, Paupris, Allelidea, Blaesiopthalmus and Lemidia, four species of Enoclerus (Clerinae), and 14 species of Cymatodera (Tillinae). Annotations include comments on additional type material, new type locality, previous (type series) locality, and questionable or mysterious types. Phyllobaenus pallipes (Gorham) and P. rufithorax (Gorham) are synonymized with P. flavifemoratus (Gorham), P. chapini (Wolcott) is synonymized under P. lateralis (Gorham), and P. villosus (Schenkling) is synonymized under P. longus (LeConte), new synonymies. Phyllobaenus longus (LeConte) is discovered in New Mexico, new state record.