Abstract
Cytogenetic information on the hemipteran suborder Coleorrhyncha is here provided for the first time. The New Zealand peloridiid species, Xenophyes cascus Bergroth, 1924 (Hemiptera: Coleorrhyncha: Peloridiidae), was found to display testes with a single follicle each, holokinetic chromosomes (like other Hemiptera), a karyotype of 2n = 26 + X(0) and a single chiasma per bivalent in male meiosis. Comparative analysis of sex chromosome systems in all four hemipteran suborders (Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, Heteroptera and Coleorrhyncha) allowed inference that an X(0) sex determining system was ancestral within the Hemiptera, whilst the XY-system was most likely a derived condition within the Heteroptera.
Highlights
Peloridiids are little-known insects believed to be relict members of an ancient lineage of Hemiptera (Evans, 1982)
Cytogenetic information on the hemipteran suborder Coleorrhyncha is here provided for the first time
Four species have been studied in this respect: Hemiodoecellus fidelis (Evans, 1937), Hemiodoecus leai China, 1924, Xenophyes cascus Bergroth, 1924 and Hackeriella veitchi (Hacker, 1932) = Hemiodoecus veitchi (Evans, 1937; Pendergrast, 1962; this study)
Summary
Peloridiids (sometimes named “moss bugs”) are little-known insects believed to be relict members of an ancient lineage of Hemiptera (Evans, 1982). This taxonomically small group comprises 17 genera and 36 species of small insects (up to 5 mm long) with a cryptic lifestyle (Burckhardt, 2009; Burckhardt et al, 2011). The phylogenetic relationships of peloridiids within the Hemiptera, the largest order in Paraneoptera, have been a matter of contentious debates for a long time In the past, they have been variously assigned to the Heteroptera or the Homoptera. They are generally considered to be the sole extant family (the Peloridiidae) of the hemipteran suborder Coleorrhyncha, which is treated as the sister group to the suborder Heteroptera (Larivière et al, 2011), though there are data supporting divergent opinions as well (e.g. Cui et al, 2013)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
