Molecular phylogeny of Nabidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha): insight into relationships and reclassification with the proposal of the new tribe Stenonabini

Abstract

Nabidae is a small predatory family within Cimicomorpha; however, the internal classification within this family has been unclear and controversial, confusing researchers in various fields. This study presents the first comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of Nabidae based on a molecular dataset comprising 16 outgroup and 40 ingroup taxa. A total of 3791 base pairs of mitochondrial (16S, cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and nuclear (18S, 28S) sequences were analyzed based on parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference. Topologies from all analyses were largely congruent. Except for the paraphyly of the second largest genus, Himacerus Wolff, Nabidae and all its subgroups were monophyletic. Based on the result, the validity of the genus Stalia Reuter was confirmed, and phylogenetic relationships of the clades at the genus level were discussed. Finally, a revised classification with the Stenonabini trib.n. is proposed. In addition, molecular dating analysis was used to estimate divergence times within Nabidae. Estimation based on the Bayesian framework revealed that the divergence between Nabinae and Prostemmatinae occurred during the Late Jurassic (152-154.44 Ma). Subsequently, most of the groups in Nabidae diversified in the Late Cretaceous. Based on the estimation result, we hypothesized that Nabinae has evolved and diversified with adaptation to angiosperm plants.

Molecular Phylogeny of Cimicoidea (Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha) Revisited: Increased Taxon Sampling Reveals Evolution of Traumatic Insemination and Paragenitalia

“…Compared to other recent phylogenetic studies, our results do not support the hypothesized sister-group relationships of Xylocorini + Cimicidae + Plokiophilidae [ 3 ], Lyctocoridae + Oriini [ 2 ], and Lyctocoridae + (Plokiophilidae + Oriini) + (Cimicidae + Anthocorini) [ 59 ] because Oriini was clustered with Cardiastethini (except for Amphiareus ) in all analyses ( Figure 3 ; Figure S1 ). Additionally, all analyses did not support that Lasiochilidae is a sister group to all remaining cimicoids ( Figure 3 , Figures S1 and S2 ), in disagreement with the findings of previous phylogenetic studies [ 2 , 3 , 6 , 7 ].…”

“…The model-based analyses indicated that Plokiophilidae is the sister group to all remaining groups within Cimicoidea ( Figure 3 ). This is congruent with the results from model-based analyses in Kim et al (2022) [ 59 ] but is incongruent with the results from the preferred topology within Cimicomorpha in Schuh et al (2009) [ 2 ], and the results from the previous study in Jung et al (2010) [ 3 ], respectively.…”

“…This family was recovered as monophyletic and was closely related to the clade Cimicidae + (Polyctenidae + Curaliidae) [ 2 ]. However, the position of this family within Cimicoidea is not strong, considering the conflict of the placement from the previous studies (e.g., [ 2 , 59 ]). This suggests that the process of the evolution of TI from SI within Cimicoidea should be reconsidered after the monophyly and the placement of Plokiophilidae are reevaluated and/or the ancestral state reconstruction of insemination is tested within Plokiophilidae.…”

“…In the ML and BI trees ( Figure 3 ), however, Plokiophilidae was sister to the remaining cimicoids (sister to the Lasiochilidae + Curaliidae clade), supporting the current circumscription of Cimicoidea [ 2 ]. This incongruence between MP and model-based analyses, and the positions of the Plokiophilidae and the cimicoid families were also reconstructed in a recent phylogenetic study [ 59 ]. (ii) The tribe Blaptostethini (Anthocoridae) was clustered with the Lasiochilidae + Curaliidae clade in the MP tree, and its placement also received low support values in the model-based analyses ( Figure 3 ; Figure S1 ).…”

A taxonomic study on Damsel bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Nabidae, Nabinae) of Guilan province and adjacent areas in Iran, with an illustrated key to the genera and species

“…Important morphological characters to identify Nabidae include the moderate size of the body (rarely exceeding 10 mm), elongated head, labium flexible and usually curving, 4 segmented labium and antenna, antennal prepedicellite present, In most species, fossula spongiosa in protibiae and mesotibiae is present (Panizzi, 2015). This family currently includes 20 genera and 500 species (Faúndez & Carvajal, 2014), classified into two subfamilies, Nabinae A.Costa, 1853 and Prostemmatinae Reuter, 1890 (Kim et al, 2021). Prostemmatinae is a relatively small group, which has five genera with approximately 150 described species worldwide (Schuh & Slater, 1995;Cassis, 2016), in the Palaearctic region, 4 genera and approximately 30 species were reported (Lee et al 2019).…”