New paper!

Bardey D. J. et al.: "The long and short of it: phylogenomics shows loss of myrmecophagous traits in Holoptilinae and necessitates synonymization of feather-legged assassin bug tribes (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)".

The tribe Aradellini Wygodzinsky & Usinger, Citation1963 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Holoptilinae) has been traditionally considered as the earliest diverging tribe of the feather-legged assassin bugs, lacking many of the diagnostic characters of the rest of the subfamily. These include the lack of the long antennal and hind-tibial setae, as well as the absence of the abdominal trichome – a glandular structure fundamental to prey interactions in the more derived Holoptilini Lepeletier & Serville, Citation1825. Here, we describe a new monotypic genus, Aratrichous anacomosus gen. et sp. nov., which shares synapomorphies with members of Aradellini, yet starkly contrasts the tribe’s diagnosis by having a distinct abdominal trichome. This trichome occurs in all instars and in both sexes; although incomplete in the first instar, it is fully developed in later stages. Phylogenomic analysis confirms this new species as sister taxon to the remaining Aradellini and places the tribe as a derived lineage within Holoptilini and as sister group to other endemic Australian genera, thereby refuting the long-held assumption that Aradellini represent the earliest diverging lineage of the entire subfamily. Consequently, we here synonymize Aradellini with Holoptilini sensu nov. and present a revised diagnosis for the tribe that includes characters pertaining to forewing venation, vestiture and trichome presence. Furthermore, within the Australian Holoptilinae, our findings suggest: a secondary loss of the trichome; a replacement of elongate setae with short teardrop-shaped setae; and a pronounced broadening of the antennae. We hypothesize that these morphological shifts reflect an adaptive transition toward a more myrmecophilous lifestyle, in contrast to the interceptive predatory strategies typical of other Holoptilinae.

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New paper!

Souza L.F.R.D., Ferreira A.F. & Fernandes J.A.M.: "Description of Apheledessa gen. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomidae: Edessinae) with two new species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest".

The new genus Apheledessa gen. nov., described here, comprises two new species: Apheledessa absens sp. nov. and Apheledessa inopia sp. nov. The genus is diagnosed based on a unique combination of characters, including well-developed, subrectangular, dorsoventrally flattened humeral angles, and a metasternal process with the anterior portion medially perforated and posteriorly sloping. Both species occur in the Atlantic Forest biome, with records from mountainous areas of the states of Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, Brazil. Diagnoses, descriptions, and a distribution map are provided. Illustrations of the habitus in dorsal and ventral views, as well as of the male pygophore and female genital plates, are also provided.

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New paper!

Kondorosy E. & Kovács S.: "A peculiar new Oriental genus of Drymini (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae)".

Formidrymus malayus, gen. et sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Rhyparochromidae: Rhyparochrominae: Drymini) is described based upon specimens from Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The systematic position of the genus and the potentially related genera are discussed, especially the superficially similar Fontejanus Breddin, 1903, a rhyparochromine genus of uncertain tribal placement.

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