Abstract
Among the 30 known genera within subfamily Peiratinae, only the genus Sirthenea has 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 genus Sirthenea. Material of over 400 dry specimens was examined for the morphological part of this study. The cosmopolitan distribution of Sirthenea and 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 known Sirthenea species. Results of the relaxed molecular clock analysis of the molecular data show that, the genus Sirthenea started diverging in the Late Cretaceous into two clades, which subsequently began to branch off in the Paleocene. Our results of phylogenetic analyses suggest that the fossula spongiosa and 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 by Sirthenea representatives. Confirmation of the results obtained in our studies is the reconciliation of the evolutionary history of Sirthenea with the biogeographical processes that have shaped current global distribution of the genus.
Highlights
Reduviidae, known as assassin bugs, with ca. 6,800 described species, are one of the largest and most morphologically diverse families of Heteroptera, currently subdividedHow to cite this article Ch1ond D, Sawka-Gądek N, Ży1a D. 2019
Our previous study showed that representatives of Sirthenea are ground-dwelling, non-specialized predators that prey on other insects on the ground in microhabitats that are mainly located in low-lying areas in tropical and temperate climates (Ch1ond & Bugaj-Nawrocka, 2015), which is consistent with the observations of other authors (Willemse, 1985)
Our results provide a hypothesis for understanding the evolutionary history of the genus, which is supported by the evolution of the ecological niches that are occupied by representatives of Sirthenea (Couvreur & Baker, 2013; Ch1ond & Bugaj-Nawrocka, 2015)
Summary
Reduviidae, known as assassin bugs, with ca. 6,800 described species, are one of the largest and most morphologically diverse families of Heteroptera, currently subdividedHow to cite this article Ch1ond D, Sawka-Gądek N, Ży1a D. 2019. During the almost two centuries since the description of the first Sirthenea species as Reduvius carinatus by Spinola in 1837, the number of known species has increased to 41 (Maldonado Capriles, 1990; Cai & Tomokuni, 2004; Ch1ond, 2008a, 2008b), which was largely due to the high degree of variability associated with the wide distribution of selected species. The combination of the above-mentioned factors, as well as the existence of geographical barriers, in some cases enable allopatric speciation (Ch1ond, Bugaj-Nawrocka & Sawka-Gądek, 2017) This has resulted in a large number of described species, which are often only synonymous with geographical forms that are characterized by a high degree of polychromatism (Ch1ond, 2018). Even though the taxonomy of the genus Sirthenea is rather well understood, no attempt has been made to study the phylogenetic relationships within the genus
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