Phylogenetic relationships of family groups in Pentatomoidea based on morphology and DNA sequences (Insecta: Heteroptera)
Author
Grazia, Jocelia
Department of Zoology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
jocelia@ufrgs.br
Author
Schuh, Randall T.
Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
Author
Wheeler, Ward C.
Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA
text
Cladistics
2008
2008-11-21
24
932
976
journal article
10.1111/j.1096-0031.2008.00224.x
e89a8dfa-e923-4a01-97f4-4edd4a0b8db0
3968591
CANOPIDAE Amyot and Serville
Historical
: This exclusively Neotropical taxon, containing a single genus and eight species, was most recently revised by
McAtee and Malloch (1928)
. Its
association with the
Scutelleridae
, as proposed by
Gapud (1991)
, was discussed in
Schuh and Slater (1995)
, who continued to maintain the family status of the group. The two defining characters for the group, presence of a prosternal sulcus and strongly laminate prosternal carinae, are shared with two other families of
Pentatomoidea
, the
Megarididae
, and
Corimelaenidae
, a situation that has resulting in ambiguity concerning its relationships with other members of the
Pentatomoidea
.
Analytical result
: The position of the monogeneric
Canopidae
in our morphological analyses (
Figs 42–44
) shows little agreement with that derived from combined molecular analysis (
Figs 45 and 46
) and total evidence analysis of both 52 (
Figs 51 and 52
) and 92 taxa
(
Figs 53–55
).
Canopus
is allied with
Megaris
and the
Plataspididae
in the first and with the phloeid–cydniddinidorid–tessaratomid clade in the last three. Although
Canopus
resembles
Megaris
Stål
and members of the
Plataspididae
in body form and the expansion of the scutellum, our phylogenetic results indicate that these similarities are almost certainly superficial, as most past classifications have implied. The biology of the group is novel within the
Pentatomoidea
and uncommon in the
Heteroptera
more broadly, showing an apparently obligate association with fungi. We continue to maintain family status for
Canopus
, in light of the somewhat ambiguous nature of relationships in the present analyses.