Phylogeny and the colourful history of jewel bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) |
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Authors: | Yan‐Zhuo Wu Dávid Rédei Joseph Eger Jr Yan‐Hui Wang Hao‐Yang Wu Attilio Carapezza Petr Kment Bo Cai Xiao‐Ya Sun Peng‐Lei Guo Jiu‐Yang Luo Qiang Xie |
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Affiliation: | 1. Institute of Entomology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin, China;2. Dow AgroSciences, LLC, Tampa, FL, USA;3. Department of Ecology and Evolution, College of Life Sciences, Sun Yat‐sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China;4. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, Sun Yat‐sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China;5. University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy;6. Department of Entomology, National Museum, Praha 9, Czech Republic;7. Hainan Entry‐Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, Haikou, Hainan, China |
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Abstract: | Members of the family Scutelleridae (Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha: Pentatomoidea) are also called shield bugs because of the greatly enlarged scutellum, or jewel bugs because of the brilliant colours of many species. All scutellerids are phytophagous, feeding on various parts of their host plants. Due to lack of obvious synapomorphies and the failure to apply rigorous phylogenetic methods, the higher classification of Scutelleridae has been disputed for more than 150 years. Here we reconstructed a phylogeny of Scutelleridae based on complete sequences of 18S and 28S nuclear rDNAs and all 13 protein‐coding genes of the mitochondrial genome, with the sampled taxa covering all of the currently recognized subfamilies. The monophyly of Scutelleridae was confirmed by the congruence of the results of analyses conducted using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood and maximum parsimony. The phylogenetic relationships among subfamilies were well resolved for the first time. Furthermore, time‐divergence studies estimated that the time of origin of Scutelleridae was in the Early Cretaceous (142.1–122.8 Ma), after the origin of the angiosperms. The diversification between the extant subfamilies of Scutelleridae and within the subfamilies occurred from the late Palaeocene to the late Miocene, simultaneously with the rise of the major groups of angiosperms and other phytophagous insects. |
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