Genetic data of museum specimens allow for inferring evolutionary history of the cosmopolitan genusSirthenea(Heteroptera: Reduviidae)

Abstract

Among the 30 known genera within subfamily Peiratinae, only the genusSirtheneahas a cosmopolitan distribution. The results of our studies are the first comprehensive analysis concerning one of the representatives of mentioned subfamily based on joint phylogenetic analyses of molecular and morphological data as well as molecular dating. A total of 32 species were included into the dataset with all known species of the genusSirthenea. Material of over 400 dry specimens was examined for the morphological part of this study. The cosmopolitan distribution ofSirtheneaand the inaccessibility of specimens preserved in alcohol required the extraction of DNA from the dried skeletal muscles of specimens deposited in 24 entomological collections. The oldest specimens used for the successful extraction and sequencing were collected more than 120 years ago in India. We performed Bayesian Inference analyses of molecular and morphological data separately, as well as combined analysis. The molecular and morphological data obtained during our research verify the correlation of the divergence dates of all knownSirtheneaspecies. Results of the relaxed molecular clock analysis of the molecular data show that, the genusSirtheneastarted diverging in the Late Cretaceous into two clades, which subsequently began to branch off in the Paleocene. Our results of phylogenetic analyses suggest that thefossula spongiosaand its development could be one of the most important morphological characters in the evolution of the genus, most likely associated with the ecological niche inhabited bySirthenearepresentatives. Confirmation of the results obtained in our studies is the reconciliation of the evolutionary history ofSirtheneawith the biogeographical processes that have shaped current global distribution of the genus.

Revision of the Assassin Bug Genus Sigicoris stat. nov. Based on Morphological Study and Molecular Phylogeny (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Peiratinae)

“…Phylogenetic studies on Peiratinae have been relatively limited and mainly focus on interspecific relationships within the genus [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 ]. More recently, the use of molecular data has contributed much to clarifying unresolved taxa and carrying out phylogenetic studies, such as the taxonomic revision on the Bekilya group based on morphological characters and COI genes [ 4 ]; comparative mitogenomics research on species of Peirates Serville, 1831 [ 17 ]; and the phylogenetic analysis and evolutionary study of Sirthenea Spinola, 1837 based on both molecular and morphological data [ 18 ].…”