Comparative morphology of clasping structures in predator stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae): Insights into their function and evolution

Revision of Heteroscelis Latreille, 1829 (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Asopinae) with the description of a new species from Colombia

The Asopinae comprises about 300 species and 63 genera of predatory stinkbugs, of which around 100 species and 23 genera occur in the Neotropical region. The species of the Neotropical genus Heteroscelis Latreille, 1829 are easily recognized by the small size, vivid and often iridescent colors, the elongated head, and the foretibial foliaceous expansions. In this work we provide a taxonomic revision of Heteroscelis. The genus and its four known species are redescribed, and one new species from Colombia, Heteroscelis vandembergi Sampaio & Campos, sp.nov., is proposed. A distribution map, and a key to the species of Heteroscelis are presented.

Revision of Acesines Stål and Dunnius Distant, resurrection of Mycterizon Breddin (Hemiptera, Heteroptera, Pentatomidae, Pentatominae), and description of a new species from India

The genera Acesines Stål, 1876 and Dunnius Distant, 1902 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Pentatominae) were revised and redescribed with the description of Dunnius barpetensis Salini & Rabbani, sp. nov., based on specimens from Assam and Meghalaya, northeastern states of India. The genus Mycterizon Breddin, 1909 is reinstated from Dunnius, removed from the tribe Menidini, and redescribed. Consequently, the following new combinations are proposed: A. sordida (Kirby, 1891), comb. nov., Dunnius laticeps (Zheng & Liu, 1987), comb. nov., D. tridentatus (Xiong & Liu, 1995), comb. nov., and D. trifasciatus (Xiong & Liu, 1995), comb. nov. A lectotype is designated for Araducta bella (Distant, 1900a). Acesines bambusana Distant, 1918, and Mycterizon bellusstat. rev. are redescribed based on both male and female genitalia and Dunnius fulvescens (Dallas, 1851) is redescribed based on female genitalia.

Genome-wide molecular phylogenetic analyses and mating experiments which reveal the evolutionary history and an intermediate stage of speciation of a giant water bug

The intermediate stages of speciation are important for understanding the processes involved in the creation of biodiversity, and also comprise a number of interesting phenomena. However, difficulties are associated with dividing clear speciation stages because speciation is a continuous process. Therefore, the elucidation of speciation is an interesting and important task in evolutionary biology. We herein present an example of a species in an intermediate stage of speciation using the giant water bug Appasus japonicus (Heteroptera, Belostomatidae) that was investigated using mating experiments and phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA COI (658 bp) and 16S rRNA (435 bp) regions, and nDNA SSR (13 loci) and its genome-wide SNPs (11,241 SNPs). The results of our phylogenetic analyses based on their mtDNA dataset and the genome-wide SNPs dataset strongly supported the paraphyly of the Japanese populations. Therefore, it is suggested that their ancestral lineage which being distributed in the Japanese Archipelago subsequently migrated to the Eurasian Continent (i.e., "back-dispersal" occurred). Furthermore, the results of the mating experiments suggested that among A. japonicus, even between closely related lineages, pre-mating reproductive isolation has been established by the differentiation of copulatory organ morphologies. In contrast, pre-mating reproductive isolation is not established in the absence of the differentiation of copulatory organ morphologies, even if genetic differentiation is prominent. These results suggested that their phylogenetic distance does not predict pre-mating reproductive isolation. Furthermore, in the present study, we present a clear example of pre-mating reproductive isolation driving speciation between closely related lineages.