Abstract
The Miridae is the most diverse family of Heteroptera (Hemiptera) with more than 10.000 species described. Their feeding habits range from phytophagy to predation, including facultative predation and oligophagy. There are eight subfamilies now recognized in the Miridae. Among these subfamilies, Phylinae and Orthotylinae are considered to be sister groups. Currently, three tribes within Orthotylinae are accepted: Halticini, Nichomachini, and Orthotylini, although more tribal level groupings have been proposed (e.g., Ceratocapsini). Orthotylini is the largest, including 213 genera and about 1500 species. Schuh (1974) divided the tribe in several generic groupings: the Falconia, Orthotylus, Sericophanes, and Zanchius groups, thus providing the most current concept of suprageneric categories.
The Plant-Bug Planetary Biodiversity Inventory (PBI) project focuses on the taxonomy and systematics of Phylinae and Orthotylinae. As a PhD candidate of this PBI, my research deals with the systematics of the Zanchius group. The concept of the Zanchius group has never been evaluated in a phylogenetic context. Various taxa have been proposed to belong in this group, but the lack of a solid phylogenetic hypothesis has precluded the proposal of a sound classification. I propose to evaluate the phylogenetic relationships of the genera of the Zanchius group on a worldwide basis, using a thorough sampling of the taxa. I will explore a suite of morphological character systems for this analysis, in particular male and female genitalia. I will document the characters using light microscopy and scanning electron micrographs. The Australian fauna of the Zanchius group is completely unknown, despite the existence of considerable material and host plant information deposited in collections. Therefore, in addition to the phylogenetic analysis, I will do a comprehensive taxonomic revision of the Australian fauna resulting in the description of a significant number of new species.
