Proceedings of the Sixth Quadrennial Meeting of the International Heteropterists´ Society

Abstract

Phylogenetic relationships in the Heteroptera and their relationship to the classification of the group are reviewed. Major contributions to understanding the Heteropteran tree of life using cladistic methods over the last 40 years are emphasized. Most studies, using morphological and molecular data, support the monophyly of the seven infraorders as reviewed by Štys and Kerzhner in 1975. Varied schemes of relationships among infraorders are reviewed, indicating support by the preponderance of data for the hypothesis (Nepomorpha (Gerromorpha (Dipsocoromorpha + Enicocephalomorpha) (Leptopodomorpha (Cimicomorpha + Pentatomomorpha))). Multiple Nepomorpha schemes support Nepoidea as sister to other true water bugs, but other relationships within the infraorder remain unsettled. The early hypothesis of Andersen for relationships within Gerromorpha receives continued support with the exception of veliid paraphyly. Dipsocoromorpha are undergoing a descriptive and phylogenetic revolution at the moment, whereas Enicocephalomorpha classification has been little influenced by cladistic methods. Leptopodomorpha, well represented in the fossil record, have been repeatedly corroborated as the sister group of Terheteroptera (Cimicomorpha + Pentatomomorpha), forming the Geoheteroptera. Most studies corroborate cimicomorphan monophyly; significant questions concerning relationships with the group are discussed. The relationship Aradoidea + Trichophora is highly corroborated. Most studies recognize the trichophoran superfamilies Idiostoloidea, Pentatomoidea, Pyrrhocoroidea, Coreoidea, and Lygaeoidea, but many details require further study and clarification. Fossil evidence offers varying amounts of evidence across the infraorders concerning ages, diversity, and relationships. Possibly most perplexing is the Jurassic record for fossil families such as Pachymeridiidae, Probascaniidae, and Protocoridae, known primarily from Western Europe. These, some of the oldest heteropteran fossils, have been assigned to the Trichophora by many authors, imputing great age to the group, but without evidence for their possession of any of the defining characters seen in the Recent fauna.