Expanding the Chromosomal Evolution Understanding of Lygaeioid True Bugs (Lygaeoidea, Pentatomomorpha, Heteroptera) by Classical and Molecular Cytogenetic Analysis

The Lygaeoidea comprise about 4660 in 790 genera and 16 families. Using standard chromosome staining and FISH with 18S rDNA and telomeric (TTAGG)n probes, we studied male karyotypes and meiosis in 10 species of Lygaeoidea belonging to eight genera of the families Blissidae, Cymidae, Heterogastridae, Lygaeidae, and Rhyparochromidae. Chromosome numbers were shown to range from 12 to 28, with 2n = 14 being predominant. All species have an XY system and all but one has a pair of m-chromosomes. The exception is Spilostethus saxatilis (Lygaeidae: Lygaeinae); in another species of Lygaeinae, Thunbergia floridulus, m-chromosomes were present, which represent the first finding for this subfamily. All species have an inverted sequence of sex chromosome divisions (“post-reduction”). The 18S rDNA loci were observed on one or both sex chromosomes in Kleidocerys resedae and Th. floridulus, respectively (Lygaeidae), while on an autosomal bivalent in all other species. The rDNA loci tended to be close to the end of the chromosome. Using (TTAGG)n—FISH, we were able to show for the first time that the Lygaeoidea lack the canonical “insect” telomere motif (TTAGG)n. We speculate that this ancestral motif is absent from the entire infraorder Pentatomomorpha being replaced by some other telomere repeat motif sequences.

Comparative Cytogenetics of Lace Bugs (Tingidae, Heteroptera): New Data and a Brief Overview

The lace bug family Tingidae comprises more than 2600 described species in 318 genera that are classified into the subfamilies Tinginae (about 2500 species and 300 genera), Cantacaderinae, and Vianadinae. We provide data on karyotypes of 16 species belonging to 10 genera of the tribes Tingini and Acalyptaini (Tinginae) studied using conventional chromosome staining and FISH. The species of Tingini possess 2n = 12A + XY, whereas those of Acalyptaini have 2n = 12A + X(0). FISH for 18S rDNA revealed hybridization signals on one of the medium-sized bivalents in species of both tribes. FISH with a telomeric probe TTAGG produced no signals in any species. In addition, we provide a list of all data obtained to date on Tingidae karyotypes, which includes 60 species from 22 genera of Tinginae. The subfamily is highly conservative in relation to the number and size of autosomes, whereas it shows diversity in the number and chromosomal distribution of the rDNA arrays, which may be located either on a pair of autosomes (the predominant and supposedly ancestral pattern), on one or both sex chromosomes, or on an autosome pair and the X. The absence of the “insect” telomeric sequence TTAGG in all species implies that Tinginae have some other, yet unknown, telomere organization.