Towards resolving the polyphyletic Reduviinae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae)

The polyphyletic Reduviinae is one of the biggest taxonomic problem within Reduviidae. Reduviinae have been a dumping ground for ill-defined taxa and further complication was caused by diagnostic groups being raised as subfamilies. Reduviinae (145 genera, ~1100 spp.) is the second largest subfamily after Harpactorinae (~2003 spp.) and its polyphyletic nature has been confirmed by recent molecular and morphological analyses (Weirauch & Munro, 2009; Weirauch, 2008). A molecular phylogenetic analysis based on a wide sampling of Reduviinae genera is here conducted and seeks to identify monophyletic clades within Reduviinae. This will break Reduviinae into manageable groups for taxonomic revision and facilitate the future search for synapomorphic characters within each clade.