Largidae

Abstract: Riegeriana gen. nov. is described to accommodate Physopelta apicalis Walker, 1873. A lectotype of Ph. apicalis is de-signated. Iphita fasciata Stehlik & Jindra, 2008, syn. nov., is recognized as a new junior subjective synonym of Riegeriana apicalis . In addition, Iphita lata sp. nov. is described from southern India and a check-list of the species of the genus Iphita Stal, 1873 is provided. The etymology of Iphita nigris Ahmad & Abbas, 1992 and the lectotype designation of Dindymellus coimbatorensis Distant, 1919 are discussed. The following new or confirmed country records are provided: Iphita coimbatorensis (Distant, 1919) from India (Karnataka, Orissa); I. dubia (Breddin, 1901) from Indonesia (Papua); I. limbata Stal, 1870 from Cambodia, China (Hainan), India (Arunachal Pradesh), Indonesia (Sumatra, Kalimantan), Malaysia (Pahang: Tioman Island), and Vietnam; I. lycoides (Walker, 1873) from the Philippines (Panay Island).

Abstract: Study of various morphological features, especially those of the female genitalia, and consideration of the chromosome complements, leads to the conclusions that a lygaeoid ancestral stock has given rise to 2 superfamilies, the Coreoidea ( Coreidae, Alydidae, Rhopalidae, and Stenocephalidae) and the Pyrrhocoroidea (Largidae and Pyrrhocoridae) ; and that the Stenocephalidae and the Largidae are least advanced in their respective superfamilies. In Part II, the conclusions reached are that, within the Coreoidea, the Coreidae, Alydidae, and Rhopalidae merit family status; and that, of these, the Rhopalidae are the most generalized, the Coreidae the most advanced, and the Alydidae intermediate in some respects but highly specialized in others.

Abstract: A number of phytophagous stinkbugs (order Heteroptera: infraorder Pentatomomorpha) harbor symbiotic bacteria in a specific midgut region composed of numerous crypts. Among the five superfamilies of the infraorder Pentatomomorpha, most members of the Coreoidea and Lygaeoidea are associated with a specific group of the genus Burkholderia, called the "stinkbug-associated beneficial and environmental (SBE)" group, which is not vertically transmitted, but acquired from the environment every host generation. A recent study reported that, in addition to these two stinkbug groups, the family Largidae of the superfamily Pyrrhocoroidea also possesses a Burkholderia symbiont. Despite this recent finding, the phylogenetic position and biological nature of Burkholderia associated with Largidae remains unclear. Based on the combined results of fluorescence in situ hybridization, cloning analysis, Illumina deep sequencing, and egg inspections by diagnostic PCR, we herein demonstrate that the largid species are consistently associated with the "plant-associated beneficial and environmental (PBE)" group of Burkholderia, which are phylogenetically distinct from the SBE group, and that they maintain symbiosis through the environmental acquisition of the bacteria. Since the superfamilies Coreoidea, Lygaeoidea, and Pyrrhocoroidea are monophyletic in the infraorder Pentatomomorpha, it is plausible that the symbiotic association with Burkholderia evolved at the common ancestor of the three superfamilies. However, the results of this study strongly suggest that a dynamic transition from the PBE to SBE group, or vice versa, occurred in the course of stinkbug evolution.

Abstract: Meiotic studies in Largus rufipennis (Castelnau) (Largidae, Heteroptera): frequency and behaviour of ring bivalents, univalents and B chromosomes