DOI: 10.3897/asp.84.e181309

Authors: Zhuo Chen, Hu Li, Wanzhi Cai

Abstract: Abstract The thread-legged bug genus Chinemesa Wygodzinsky, 1966 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini) is a small group of five species endemic to the Oriental Region. However, the species diversity of this genus is still far from completely explored, especially in the mainland of Asia. Here we describe three new species, C. ornata sp. n., C. pulchella sp. n. and C. weilingfengi sp. n., from southern China. Based on the newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes of four Chinemesa species, we detected two gene rearrangement patterns in the genus: a translocation of trnI and trnQ in all four species, and a loss of trnW in C. pulchella sp. n. Both gene rearrangements are novel within Reduviidae as well as Heteroptera, and can be explained by the tandem duplication-random loss (TDRL) model. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitogenomic datasets recovered the monophyly of Chinemesa, with the translocation of trnI-trnQ as a potential molecular synapomorphy for the genus.

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DOI: 10.3897/asp.82.e114213

Authors: Jamie Ramirez, Agnieszka Bugaj-Nawrocka, Artur Taszakowski, Christiane Weirauch

Abstract: The assassin bug genus Koenigsbergia Popov, 2003 is currently monotypic and represented by a female holotype from Baltic Amber (~33.9–55.8 MYA). The genus was originally described within Phymatinae (Phymatine Complex or phymatine clade). However, our literature review reveals that the amber fossil likely belongs to the subfamily Phimophorinae, which is distantly related to the phymatine clade. The recent acquisition of one male and one nymph of Koenigsbergia provides the opportunity to reevaluate the systematic placement of this genus. We here examine the new fossils, concluding that the adult male represents an undescribed species, and describe it as Koenigsbergia explicativa, new species. Our morphological comparison between Phimophorinae, Phymatinae, and Koenigsbergia (macro imagining, scanning electron microscopy) shows that the fossil genus shares notable similarities with Phimophorus Bergroth, 1886 and Mendanocoris Miller, 1956. We therefore formally transfer the fossil genus to Phimophorinae.

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