The Klingon batbugs: Morphological adaptations in the primitive bat bugs, <i>Bucimex chilensis</i> and <i>Primicimex cavernis</i>, including updated phylogeny of Cimicidae



Ossa, Gonzalo, Johnson, Joseph S, Puisto, Anna IE, Rinne, Veikko, Saaksjarvi, Ilari E, Waag, Austin, Vesterinen, Eero J and Lilley, Thomas M ORCID: 0000-0001-5864-4958
(2019) The Klingon batbugs: Morphological adaptations in the primitive bat bugs, <i>Bucimex chilensis</i> and <i>Primicimex cavernis</i>, including updated phylogeny of Cimicidae. ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, 9 (4). pp. 1736-1749.

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Abstract

The Cimicidae is a family of blood-dependent ectoparasites in which dispersion capacity is greatly associated with host movements. Bats are the ancestral and most prevalent hosts for cimicids. Cimicids have a worldwide distribution matching that of their hosts, but the global classification is incomplete, especially for species outside the most common Cimicidae taxa. In this study, we place a little-studied cimicid species, <i>Bucimex chilensis</i>, within a comprehensive molecular phylogeny of Cimicidae by sequencing the genomic regions of this and other closely related species. For this study, we collected <i>B. chilensis</i> females from <i>Myotis chiloensis</i> in Tierra del Fuego, 1,300 km further south than previously known southernmost distribution boundary. We also sequenced COI regions from <i>Primicimex cavernis</i>, a species which together with <i>B. chilensis</i> comprise the entire subfamily Primiciminae. Using Bayesian posterior probability and maximum-likelihood approaches, we found that <i>B. chilensis</i> and <i>P. cavernis</i> clustered close to each other in the molecular analyses, receiving support from similar morphological features, agreeing with the morphology-based taxonomic placement of the two species within the subfamily Primiciminae. We also describe a previously unrecognized morphological adaptation of the tarsal structure, which allows the austral bat ectoparasite, <i>B. chilensis</i>, to cling on to the pelage of its known host, the Chilean myotis (<i>Myotis chiloensis</i>). Through a morphological study and behavioral observation, we elucidate how this tarsal structure operates, and we hypothesize that by clinging in the host pelage, <i>B. chilensis</i> is able to disperse effectively to new areas despite low host density. This is a unique feature shared by <i>P. cavernis</i>, the only other species in Primiciminae.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Chiroptera, Cimicinae, dispersal, ectoparasite, tarsal structure
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 24 May 2019 15:46
Last Modified: 09 Oct 2023 17:57
DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4846
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.4846
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URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3042819