Bedbugs Evolved before Their Bat Hosts and Did Not Co-speciate with Ancient Humans.

All 100+ bedbug species (Cimicidae) are obligate blood-sucking parasites [1, 2]. In general, blood sucking (hematophagy) is thought to have evolved in generalist feeders adventitiously taking blood meals [3, 4], but those cimicid taxa currently considered ancestral are putative host specialists [1, 5]. Bats are believed to be the ancestral hosts of cimicids [1], but a cimicid fossil [6] predates the oldest known bat fossil [7] by >30 million years (Ma). The bedbugs that parasitize humans [1, 8] are host generalists, so their evolution from specialist ancestors is incompatible with the "resource efficiency" hypothesis and only partially consistent with the "oscillation" hypothesis [9-16]. Because quantifying host shift frequencies of hematophagous specialists and generalists may help to predict host associations when vertebrate ranges expand by climate change [17], livestock, and pet trade in general and because of the previously proposed role of human pre-history in parasite speciation [18-20], we constructed a fossil-dated, molecular phylogeny of the Cimicidae. This phylogeny places ancestral Cimicidae to 115 mya as hematophagous specialists with lineages that later frequently populated bat and bird lineages. We also found that the clades, including the two major current urban pests, Cimex lectularius and C. hemipterus, separated 47 mya, rejecting the notion that the evolutionary trajectories of Homo caused their divergence [18-21]. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

The family Passandridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in Argentina with comments on species from Brazil and Paraguay.

The family Passandridae (Coleoptera: Cucujoidea) in Argentina and adjacent countries is reviewed. A total of 13 species are recorded from Argentina: Catogenus asper Slipinski, 1989, Catogenus castaneus (Perty, 1834), Catogenus cylindricollis (Lacordaire, 1854), Catogenus decoratus Newman, 1839, Catogenus depressus Slipinski, 1989, Catogenus gracilicornis Slipinski, 1989, Catogenus lebasi Guérin-Méneville, 1844, Catogenus longicornis Grouvelle, 1874, Passandra fasciata Gray in Griffin, 1832, Taphroscelidia humeralis (Grouvelle, 1916), Taphroscelidia semicastanea (Reitter, 1876), and Taphroscelidia sp. (probably a new species, not described here). New provincial records are given for C. castaneus (Salta; La Rioja; Santiago del Estero; Córdoba; Corrientes; Buenos Aires), C. cylindricollis (Salta; Misiones; Chaco; Santa Fe; Entre Ríos), C. gracilicornis (Catamarca; Buenos Aires), C. longicornis (Salta; Tucumán; Catamarca; Chaco; La Rioja; Entre Ríos; Buenos Aires), P. fasciata (Córdoba; Santa Fe; Mendoza; Buenos Aires), T. humeralis (Salta; Catamarca; La Rioja; San Luis; Santa Fe; Corrientes; Entre Ríos), T. semicastanea (Salta; Catamarca; Corrientes; Entre Ríos), and Taphroscelidia sp. (Corrientes). Four new records are given for Paraguay: C. castaneus, C. cylindricollis, C. longicornis, and Taphroscelidia sp. Monthly and seasonal occurrence of adults is summarized and discussed. Adults of Passandridae emerged from 25 plant species infested with a total of 62 species of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera). Their host specificity is discussed in connection with their wide geographic distributions, which are apparently unrelated to a particular biogeographic province.

Seasonality and Temperature-Dependent Flight Dispersal of Triatoma infestans (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and Other Vectors of Chagas Disease in Western Argentina.

Flight dispersal of Triatominae is affected by climatic conditions and determines the spatiotemporal patterns of house invasion and transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae). We investigated the detailed time structure and temperature dependencies of flight occurrence of Triatoma infestans Klug (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) and other triatomine species in a rural village of western Argentina by taking advantage of the attraction of adult triatomines to artificial light sources. Most of the village's streetlight posts were systematically inspected for triatomines twice between sunset and midnight over 425 nights in the spring-summer seasons of 1999-2002, an unprecedented light-trap sampling effort for any triatomine species. In total, 288 adults were captured, including 122 Triatoma guasayana Wygodzinsky and Abalos, 89 T. infestans, 72 Triatoma eratyrusiformis Del Ponte, and 5 Triatoma garciabesi Carcavallo et al. Adult sex ratios were balanced in T. infestans and strongly male-biased in other species. Nearly all flight-dispersing triatomines were caught when temperatures at sunset were >20 °C (range, 16.6-31.7 °C), suggesting a putative threshold around 17-18 °C. Triatomine catches were rare on rainy days. Logistic regression analysis revealed that the proportion of nights in which at least an adult T. infestans was caught increased highly significantly with increasing temperature at sunset and was modified by collection month, with greater catches in early spring and no sex differential. This study confirms that spring represents a previously overlooked, important dispersal period of T. infestans, and shows large variations among and within Triatominae in their temporal patterns of flight occurrence, abundance, and sex ratio.

Insects found in birds' nests from Argentina: Coryphistera alaudina Burmeister, 1860 (Aves: Furnariidae), their inquiline birds and mammals, new hosts for Psammolestes coreodes Bergroth, 1911 and Triatoma platensis Neiva, 1913 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae).

The insect fauna in nests of Coryphistera alaudina Burmeister, 1860 (Aves: Furnariidae) were studied in the provinces of Santiago del Estero, Chaco, Córdoba, and La Pampa in Argentina. A total of 7364 insect specimens comprising 77 taxa in a total of 29 families and 7 orders was found in their nests: 40 identified to species, 23 identified to genus, and 14 identified to family. Coryphistera alaudina and some of their vertebrate inquilines are new host records for the triatomine bugs Psammolestes coreodes Bergroth, 1911 and/or Triatoma platensis Neiva, 1913 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). The insects in the nests of C. alaudina are separated by functional guilds, and their permanence time inside the nests are presented in a new manner and discussed.

A review of the natural history of adult Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries.

A compilation of the known natural history of adult Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries is provided. Food items of adult Cetoniinae include pollen and/or nectar (flower visitors), sap and/or slime flux, ripened fruits on plants, green tissues and leaves, and honey. Of the 36 species of Cetoniinae from Argentina, food items are known only for 11 species (30.5%). Attraction to light and bait-traps, adult activity periods, vertebrate predators, and the occurrence in bird nests are presented and discussed. Other insects that share the same food sources and bait-traps with Cetoniinae are mentioned.

New family host and records of Acanthocrios furnarii (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1928) (Hemiptera: Cimicidae) from Argentina, and implications in the transmission mechanism of cimicid bugs among birds' nests.

Acanthocrios furnarii (Cordero & Vogelsang, 1928) [Hemiptera: Cimicidae: Haematosiphoninae] is an ectoparasite on avian hosts from Argentina and Uruguay. It has been mostly found in mud nests of Furnarius rufus (Gmelin, 1788) [Aves: Furnariidae], but its true hosts are some of the inquiline birds that use F. rufus nests. These inquiline hosts belong to the families Emberizidae, Hirundinidae, Icteridae, Passeridae, and Troglodytidae. Outside F. rufus mud nests, A. furnarii has been found in nests of other Furnariidae, Hirundinidae, and Passeridae. The present work adds the first nonpasserine host (Falconidae) of A. furnarii, together with new records in La Pampa, Argentina. The transmission mechanism of A. furnarii, together with all other cimicid bugs from Argentina and adjacent countries, is increased considering this new host; and we also take into account the birds that nidificate in nest boxes, the cavity-nesting birds in trees and earth, and the inquiline birds in stick nests of Furnariidae and Psittacidae.

A review of the Cetoniinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Argentina and adjacent countries: systematics and geographic distributions.

A total of 30 species of Gymnetini (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Cetoniinae) are known from Argentina: Allorhina corni-frons (Gory & Percheron, 1833); Blaesia atra Burmeister, 1842; Blaesia subrugosa Moser, 1905; Desicasta purpurascens Schoch, 1898, dubious record; Gymnetis bajula (Olivier, 1789); Gymnetis bonplandi Schaum, 1844, new country record; Gymnetis bouvieri Bourgoin, 1912; Gymnetis bruchi Moser, 1910, new status (= Aemilius wagneri Le Moult, 1939, new synonymy); Gymnetis carbo (Schürhoff, 1937); Gymnetis chalcipes Gory & Percheron, 1833; Gymnetis cordobana (Schürhoff, 1937), new status; Gymnetis flavomarginata Blanchard, 1847; Gymnetis goryi Janson, 1877, new status; Gym-netis hebraica (Drapiez, 1820), new country record; Gymnetis hepatica Di Iorio, new species; Gymnetis litigiosa Gory & Percheron, 1833, new status; Gymnetis pantherina Blanchard, 1842 (= Gymnetis meleagris Burmeister, 1842, = Paragym-netis rubrocincta Schürhoff, 1937, new synonymy), new country record; Gymnetis pudibunda Burmeister, 1866; Gymne-tis schistacea Burmeister, 1847, new status; Gymnetis undata (Olivier, 1789); Heterocotinis semiopaca (Moser, 1907); Hologymnetis sp. (= Gymnetis rubida, not Gory & Percheron, 1833); Hoplopyga albiventris (Gory & Percheron, 1833); Hoplopyga brasiliensis (Gory & Percheron, 1833); Hoplopyga liturata (Olivier, 1789); Hoplopygothrix atropurpurea (Schaum, 1841), new country record; Marmarina insculpta (Kirby, 1819), new status, new country record; Marmarina tigrina (Gory & Percheron, 1833), (= Maculinetis litorea Schürhoff, 1937, new synonymy); Neocorvicoana reticulata (Kirby, 1819); Neocorvicoana tricolor (Schürhoff, 1933). Marmarina argentina Moser, 1917 is considered a nomen du-bium until a redescription and illustration of the type specimen facilitates the proper identification of this species. The fol-lowing type specimens were examined: Blaesia atra Burmeister, 1842 (holotype); Gymnetis alauda Burmeister, 1842 (holotype, = G. pantherina); G. bruchi (lectotype, here designated); G. dysoni Schaum, 1844 (paralectotype); G. meleagris Burmeister, 1842 (paralectotype, = G. pantherina); G. perplexa Burmeister, 1842 (holotype, = G. bajula); G. pudibunda (holotype); G. pudibunda porteri Dallas, 1930 (holotype, = G. pudibunda); G. punctipennis Burmeister, 1844 (paralecto-type); G. strobeli Burmeister, 1866 (holotype, = Marmarina tigrina); G. platensis Brèthes, 1925 (holotype, = Heterocotinis semiopaca), G. platensis tandilensis Bréthes, 1925 (holotype, = H. semiopaca); Coelocratus rufipennis (Gory & Percher-on, 1833) (lectotype, here designated); Trigonopeltastes geometricus Schaum in Burmeister & Schaum, 1841 (lectotype, here designated). Four species are endemic to Argentina (G. bouvieri, G. bruchi, G. cordobana, and G. pudibunda), but records of these species might be expected in the Bolivian and Paraguayan Chaco, as well as in Uruguay. Male parameres, armature of the internal sac of the aedeagus, and the general aspects of adults are presented. An additional six species of Cetoniinae bring the total number in Argentina to 36 species: Euphoria lurida (Fabricius, 1775) (Cetoniini); Cyclidius elongatus (Olivier, 1789) (Cremastocheilini); and Inca bonplandi (Gyllenhall, 1817), Inca clathrata clathrata (Olivier, 1792), Inca pulverulenta (Olivier, 1789), and Trigonopeltastes triangulus (Kirby, 1819) (Trichiini). New records in adja-cent countries are four species for Bolivia from a total of 18, 17 of 24 for Paraguay, and two of 10 for Uruguay; 25 species are shared between Argentina and Brazil (three are new records for Brazil).

Distribution and 16S rDNA sequences of Argas monachus (Acari: Argasidae), a soft tick parasite of Myiopsitta monachus (Aves: Psittacidae).

Specimens of Argas monachus Keirans et al. were collected from Myiopsitta monachus nests in 42 localities in Argentina and Paraguay from 2006 to 2010. A list of localities where this tick has been found is presented. 16S rDNA sequences of specimens of A. monachus from different localities were compared to confirm whether they belong to the same specific taxon. Argas monachus is present in the phytogeographic provinces of Chaco, Espinal, and Monte, but not in the Pampa (all from de Chaco Domain) where the host is well distributed. No differences were found among 16S rDNA sequences of geographically distant specimens.

Asthenes dorbignyi (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) host of Argas neghmei (Acari: Argasidae).

Argas neghmei Kohls & Hoogstraal is a Neotropical tick species parasite of poultry and man in the arid western of the southern cone of America in Argentina and Chile. Males, females and nymphs of an argasid were collected from 20 to 22 of June, 2007 in nests of Creamy-breasted Canastero, Asthenes dorbignyi (Reinchenbach) (Passeriformes: Furnariidae) at about 7 km S of La Poma (24 degrees 46'S, 66 degrees 12'W) and a male tick at 24 degrees 48'S, 66 degrees 10'W on Nov 27, 2008, Salta province, Argentina. Scanning electron microscope micrographies and sequences of 16S rDNA confirmed that the ticks found were A. neghmei. Development in breeding areas of A. dorbignyi is probably a source of infestation for animal premises and houses. However, the role of other unknown wild birds may also contribute to the invasion of A. neghmei in chicken houses or residences.

Plantas hospedadoras y biogeografía de cerambycidae (Coleoptera) del noroeste y centro de la Argentina / Host plants of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) from northwest and central Argentina

Seventy four species of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) were reared from forty eight host plants found into Yungas, Chaco and Prepuna phytogeografical provinces. The host plants belong Anacardiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Bignoniaceae, Cactaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Juglandaceae, Leguminosae sensu lato (Caesalpinaceae, Fabaceae, Mimosaceae), Loranthaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rutaceae, Salicaceae, Sapindaceae, Solanaceae, Ulmaceae and Vitaceae. Some species of Cerambycidae and their host plants show similar distribution patterns: from northeastern Brazil through Paraguay and reach the Argentina at both sides of the Chaco Provine: at the east, along the river systems through Buenos Aires, and the at the west into forests of the Yungas Province or into North Sierra Chaco, a probably relictual community. Others species are restricted to the South America area of Prosopis, that comprise the Chaco, Monte and Espinal biogeographical provinces, and live in host plants of chaquenian lineage mainly Leguminosae sensu lato and Ulmaceae

Plantas hospedadoras de Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina / Host plants of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) species in Espinal and Buenos Aires Province, Argentina

The host plants of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) in the Province of Espinal (Chaquenian Dominion) and the province of Buenos Aires are mainly exotics, cultivated or naturalized, the last ones growing spontaneously and forming little forests. Forty two species of Cerambycidae are reported using these plants and other native species as hosts. Hylotrupes bajulus, originally introduced and a serious pest of furniture, is reported for first time in spontaneous pine forests in Sierra de la Ventana, south of the province of Buenos Aires

Plantas hospedadoras de Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) en el noreste de Argentina / Host plants of Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) in the northeast of Argentina

New host plants and localities are recorded for 84 species of Cerambycidae of Chaco Province (Chaquenian Dominion) and Paranaense Province (Amazonian Dominion) in northeastern Argentina and Brazil. Host plants belong to Anacardiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Apocynaceae, Bignoniaceae, Bombacaceae, Cactaceae, Caesalpinaceae, Capparidaceae, Casuarinaceae, Fabaceae, Mimosaceae, Moraceae, Nyctaginaceae, Polygonaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rutaceae, Sapindaceae, Sapotaceae and Ulmaceae. First records for Argentina and host plants: Compsocerus barbicornis Serville 1834, Desmiphora lenkoi (Lane 1959), Neocompsa serrana (Martins 1962) and Trachysomus dromedarius (Voet 1778). First host plants records of rare or uncommon Argentine species of Cerambycidae are Methia tubuliventris Gounelle 1913, Paraleptidea femorata Gounelle 1913 and Oncideres pepotinga Martins 1981