405
Polyctenidae have hairy bodies, lack ocelli and compound eyes, display wings that
are featureless flaps, and have abbreviated fore legs (Maa 1964).
Among predatory Reduviidae (assassin bugs), one subfamily, Triatominae (kissing bugs, conenose bugs), consists of 6 tribes and 18 genera that are responsible for
feeding on vertebrate blood and vectoring trypanosomes that cause Chagas disease
in humans, a debilitating disorder of the Americas. Rhodnius prolixus (common
kissing bug) and Triatoma infestans (winchuka) are major vectors of Chagas disease
and frequently are associated with triggering anaphylaxis (Klotz et al. 2010). The
Triatominae is a monophyletic subfamily within the Reduviidae (Weirauch and
Munro 2009), although the Reduviidae is phylogenetically very distant from the
Cimicidae + Polyctenidae clade within Heteroptera (Schuh et al. 2009).
Presently the only extinct, family-level lineage of hematophagous Hemiptera is
Torirostratidae, from 125 million-year-old Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of
northeastern China (Yao et al. 2014). Two well-preserved genera are placed in the
Torirostratidae but remain unplaced within the Cimicomorpha. The fossil record of
other hematophagous Heteroptera is represented by two occurrences. One is a fossil
of Cimicidae from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar Amber, Quasicimex eilapinastes.
Quasicimex exhibits many characters of Cimicidae sensu lato by possessing several
apomorphies while concurrently retaining some primitive characters not found in
the crown-group (Engel 2008a). The Polyctenidae, however, lack a fossil record.
The other occurrence is the infamous reduviid Triatoma (kissing bugs), a major vector for blood-borne diseases, which has a fossil record, as T. dominicana, that
extends to Dominican Amber approximately 21 million-years ago (Poinar Jr 2005).
A second specimen reveals that a triatomine–trypanosomid vector association
existed through the presence of Trypanosoma antiquus individuals in a fecal droplet
of T. dominicana adjacent to mammalian hairs (Poinar Jr 2005, 2021). This association suggests a vertebrate host was a precursor to Chagas Disease that currently
affects millions of humans in Central and South America (Lent and
Wygodzinsky 1979).
11.5.1.6 Coleoptera (Beetles)
Within Coleoptera, the representation of parasites is scattered across the taxonomically vast order. Often, descriptions of the life habits of taxa are unclear as to
whether a particular species is a parasite or a parasitoid, particularly since the term
“parasite” occasionally meant “parasitoid” in the older literature. However, parasite
habits have been established for Leiodidae and Meloidae and probably Rhipiceridae,
Passandridae and Bothrideridae, although the latter three lineages are overwhelmingly represented by parasitoids and are reviewed more appropriately in Sect.
11.5.2.2. It is highly likely other beetle lineages will be determined to have obligate
parasitic life habits in the near future, as the life histories of individual species
become better known.
Leiodidae (round fungus beetles) consist of 6 subfamilies and about 3800 species
that are small to very small and typically are saprophagous or feed on a variety of
11 The History of Insect Parasitism and the Mid-Mesozoic Parasitoid Revolution
Polyctenidae have hairy bodies, lack ocelli and compound eyes, display wings that
are featureless flaps, and have abbreviated fore legs (Maa 1964).
Among predatory Reduviidae (assassin bugs), one subfamily, Triatominae (kissing bugs, conenose bugs), consists of 6 tribes and 18 genera that are responsible for
feeding on vertebrate blood and vectoring trypanosomes that cause Chagas disease
in humans, a debilitating disorder of the Americas. Rhodnius prolixus (common
kissing bug) and Triatoma infestans (winchuka) are major vectors of Chagas disease
and frequently are associated with triggering anaphylaxis (Klotz et al. 2010). The
Triatominae is a monophyletic subfamily within the Reduviidae (Weirauch and
Munro 2009), although the Reduviidae is phylogenetically very distant from the
Cimicidae + Polyctenidae clade within Heteroptera (Schuh et al. 2009).
Presently the only extinct, family-level lineage of hematophagous Hemiptera is
Torirostratidae, from 125 million-year-old Early Cretaceous Yixian Formation of
northeastern China (Yao et al. 2014). Two well-preserved genera are placed in the
Torirostratidae but remain unplaced within the Cimicomorpha. The fossil record of
other hematophagous Heteroptera is represented by two occurrences. One is a fossil
of Cimicidae from mid-Cretaceous Myanmar Amber, Quasicimex eilapinastes.
Quasicimex exhibits many characters of Cimicidae sensu lato by possessing several
apomorphies while concurrently retaining some primitive characters not found in
the crown-group (Engel 2008a). The Polyctenidae, however, lack a fossil record.
The other occurrence is the infamous reduviid Triatoma (kissing bugs), a major vector for blood-borne diseases, which has a fossil record, as T. dominicana, that
extends to Dominican Amber approximately 21 million-years ago (Poinar Jr 2005).
A second specimen reveals that a triatomine–trypanosomid vector association
existed through the presence of Trypanosoma antiquus individuals in a fecal droplet
of T. dominicana adjacent to mammalian hairs (Poinar Jr 2005, 2021). This association suggests a vertebrate host was a precursor to Chagas Disease that currently
affects millions of humans in Central and South America (Lent and
Wygodzinsky 1979).
11.5.1.6 Coleoptera (Beetles)
Within Coleoptera, the representation of parasites is scattered across the taxonomically vast order. Often, descriptions of the life habits of taxa are unclear as to
whether a particular species is a parasite or a parasitoid, particularly since the term
“parasite” occasionally meant “parasitoid” in the older literature. However, parasite
habits have been established for Leiodidae and Meloidae and probably Rhipiceridae,
Passandridae and Bothrideridae, although the latter three lineages are overwhelmingly represented by parasitoids and are reviewed more appropriately in Sect.
11.5.2.2. It is highly likely other beetle lineages will be determined to have obligate
parasitic life habits in the near future, as the life histories of individual species
become better known.
Leiodidae (round fungus beetles) consist of 6 subfamilies and about 3800 species
that are small to very small and typically are saprophagous or feed on a variety of
11 The History of Insect Parasitism and the Mid-Mesozoic Parasitoid Revolution