Unlikely Relationships: Ectrichodiinae + Tribelocephalinae

Together these groups comprise more than 600 species in about 115 genera (Maldonado 1990). The current hypothesis of higher-level relationships of Reduviidae, generated in our lab, shows Tribelocephalinae, a small taxon of often dull brown, moderate sized species, and unknown biology, to be the sister group of Ectrichodiinae.

This project consists of a combination of generic revisions with a higher-level phylogeny of Ectrichodiinae + Tribelocephalinae that will improve the overall classification of this monophyletic group. We are currently working on a revision of the Tribelocephaline genus Abelocephala Maldonado (in collaboration with D. Forero, American Museum of Natural History, New York) and a revision of a group of flightless Ectrichodiinae (Austrokatanga Weirauch, Rabitsch, and Redei) that are often found in dung beetle traps (in collaboration with W. Rabitsch, Naturhistrisches Museum, Vienna, and D. Redei, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest). In addition, a recently discovered and undescribed species that might represent a basal Ectrichodiinae or Tribelocephalinae (manuscript name: Tribelocodia Weirauch) is being described and included in the phylogenetic analysis.