Triatominae, the kissing bugs, are one of the smaller subfamilies of the otherwise predatory hemipteran family Reduviidae, the assassin bugs. Substantial progress has been made during the past decades to resolve phylogenetic relationships between Triatominae and other reduviid subfamilies as well as relationships among the ~150 species currently classified as kissing bugs. Nevertheless, many open questions remain. While Triatominae are now shown to be part of an assassin bug clade that also comprises Stenopodainae and part of Reduviinae, it is still not conclusively established if Triatominae are monophyletic or paraphyletic, and there are uncertainties with regard to relationships between and within tribes of Triatominae. This chapter summarizes available information on the evolution of Triatominae, highlighting strengths and shortcomings of currently published phylogenetic hypotheses. It stresses the importance of densely sampled, data-rich, robust phylogenies to inform the classification of Triatominae and to severe as a framework for evolutionary investigations across the group.

Origin and Evolution of Triatominae

Male bed bugs pierce females through the body wall and inseminate directly into the body cavity. It has previously been shown that such traumatic insemination carries costs for females, and sexual conflict regarding the mode of insemination should thus propel male-female coevolution. Since males accumulate sexually antagonistic adaptations, females should evolve counter-adaptations that efficiently abate the costs to females of sexual interactions. Yet, unambiguous experimental evidence for female counter-adaptations is lacking. In bed bugs, the spermalege (a highly modified region of the abdomen where the male usually pierces the female) may represent a female counter-adaptation. We assess the female costs of traumatic insemination by varying the rate of insemination on the one hand, and the rate and mode of piercing trauma to females on the other. Our results show that female mating costs are not extreme-elevated mating rate shortened female lifespan but had no significant effect on lifetime egg production. More importantly, additional abdominal piercing in the spermalege had no effect on females whereas even a very low rate of such piercing outside the spermalege reduced female lifetime egg production by 50%. Thus, females are well counter-adapted to the intrusive mode of insemination exhibited by male bed bugs and the costs of elevated mating are comparable with those in other insects, as predicted by theory. We therefore demonstrate that the spermalege efficiently reduces the direct costs of piercing trauma to females, and hence provide experimental evidence for a female counter-adaptation to a sexually antagonistic male trait.

Costly traumatic insemination and a female counter-adaptation in bed bugs

The bed bugs (Cimex lectularius and C hemipterus) have undergone a significant resurgence worldwide since the 1990s A compilation of findings from a database, including 2650 scientific publications from seven major medical databases, allowed us to document main evolutionary events, from fossil evidence, dating from 11,000 years ago, until the present that has led to the current worldwide expansion of Cimicid species We present the hypotheses on the possible dispersion pathways of bed bugs in light of the major historical and evolutionary events A detailed classification of the Cimicidae family and finally, an illustrative map displaying the current distribution of known Cimex species in each geographical ecozone of Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Australia are presented

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/12/4576/pdf

Bed Bugs (Hemiptera, Cimicidae): Overview of Classification, Evolution and Dispersion

Abstract
Introduction: Cimex lectularius (bed bug) is a hematophagous parasite that can be considered as an emergent and neglected concern in Colombia. Due to their increasing importance, the following two clinical cases secondary to a bed bug infestation are presented.
Case presentation: Two patients, one male and one female (31 and 30 years old, respectively) went on their honeymoon trip to Costa Rica and Nicaragua in 2017. During those trips, both patients stayed in the same room in hotels of different categories. Upon their return to Bogotá (Colombia), erythematous lesions and pruritic papules appeared without any apparent explanation, which were associated with intense pruritus and had a clustered and linear (breakfast-lunch-dinner) pattern. During consultation with the Travel Medicine service, a diagnosis of dermatitis due to bed bug infestation was made. With the recommendations given by the medical staff (in which no chemical measures were suggested), the bugs and lesions disappeared.
Conclusion: Bed bugs are a public health problem of increasing importance worldwide. This report of two cases presents one of the few published evidences of their presence in Colombia. As both cases are domestic, the relevance of an early diagnosis and a comprehensive approach based on the needs of the patients is demonstrated.

pdf/bedbug-cimex-lectularius-infestations-in-colombia-report-of-4nqy2w275a.pdf

Bedbug (Cimex lectularius) infestations in Colombia. Report of two cases

All 100+ bedbug species (Cimicidae) are obligate blood-sucking parasites and well-known for their habit of traumatic insemination but the evolutionary trajectory of these characters is unknown. Our new, fossil-dated, molecular phylogeny estimates that ancestral Cimicidae evolved ca. 115MYA as hematophagous specialists on an unidentified host, 50MY before bats, switching to bats and birds thereafter. Humans were independently colonized three times and our phylogeny rejects the idea that the divergence of the two current urban pests ( Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus ) 47MYA was associated with the divergence of Homo sapiens and H. erectus (1.6MYA). The female’s functional reproductive tract is unusually diverse and heterotopic, despite the unusual and strong morphological stasis of the male genitalia. This sex-reversal in genital co-variation is incompatible with current models of genital evolution. The evolutionary trait diversification in cimicids allowed us to uncover fascinating biology and link it to human pre-history and current activity.

/pdf/a-molecular-phylogeny-of-bedbugs-elucidates-the-evolution-of-23k0li6gk5.pdf

A molecular phylogeny of bedbugs elucidates the evolution of host associations and sex-reversal of reproductive trait diversification

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A molecular phylogeny of bedbugs elucidates the evolution of host associations and sex-reversal of reproductive trait diversification