Phylogenetic classification of the Cydnidae Billberg, 1820 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha: Pentatomoidea): testing incongruences based on morphological data.

• Grant number: 23/10464-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Taxonomy of Recent Groups
• Principal Investigator: Talita Roell
• Grantee: Maíra Andrade Correia
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Ambientais, Químicas e Farmacêuticas (ICAQF). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Diadema. Diadema , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Cydnidae was proposed in 1820 by Billberg and include the species known as burrowing bugs, which represent the only family among true bugs with the fossorial habit. The family has more than 750 species in 93 genera worldwide, divided into six subfamilies. Burrowing bugs are phytophagous, mostly polyphagous, some species are reported as agricultural pests. The phylogenetic classification of the family is poorly discussed in the literature, and there are no phylogenetic hypotheses tested throughout robust analysis and including all subfamilies, which limits other studies and even possible control measures. In works in which the phylogeny of Cydnidae is partially discussed, attention is drawn to the relationships of the species included in the subfamily Cephalocteinae and tribe Cydninae: Geotomini. A new genus of the subfamily Cydninae was recently recognized from Brazil, and it differs from the known neotropical species of the subfamily by the shape of the tibia, with emphasis on the anterior one, clearly projected at the apex. Despite the typical body shape of the species included in the Cydninae subfamily, the development of the anterior tibia is like that of some species of the Cephalocteinae, characteristic that raise the hypotheses of a closer relationship or an interesting case of convergence in structure in relation to the digging habit. The objectives of this work are two fold: to test the classification of Cydnidae for the first time at subfamily level, and to to define the position of the new genus (using characters of external morphology and internal genitalia).