9726587 Wheeler Testing Relationships ofHeteroptera (Insecta) with DNA Sequence Data The Heteroptera or true bugs, a suborder of the Hemiptera, represent what is probably the largest group of insects with incomplete development. The approximately 40,000 species placed in the taxon demonstrate a tremendous range of life styles and biotic associations. Uniquely among insects, some can walk on the surface of water, while some of the truly aquatic forms can extract air directly from water through the use of a plastron. Many are predaceous on other insects, others feed on plants, including seeds, juices, and cell contents, and at least three lineages are vertebrate parasites. Among this great variety of feeding types are found species of importance to agriculture and public health. DNA sequence data from four nuclear and mitochondrial loci (18SrDNA, 28SrDNA, mt 16SrDNA, and mtCOI) will be gathered and combined with morphological information to test 1 ) existing theories of higher-level heteropteran evolution and 2) notions of family-group relationships within five of the seven recognized higher groups.
