New species and novel mitochondrial gene rearrangements in the thread-legged bug genus Chinemesa (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae)

The thread-legged bug genus Chinemesa Wygodzinsky, 1966 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini) is a small group of five species endemic to the Oriental Region. However, the species diversity of this genus is still far from completely explored, especially in the mainland of Asia. Here we describe three new species, C. ornata sp. n., C. pulchella sp. n. and C. weilingfengi sp. n., from southern China.

Based on the newly sequenced mitochondrial genomes of four Chinemesa species, we detected two gene rearrangement patterns in the genus: a translocation of trnI and trnQ in all four species, and a loss of trnW in C. pulchella sp. n. Both gene rearrangements are novel within Reduviidae as well as Heteroptera, and can be explained by the tandem duplication-random loss (TDRL) model. Phylogenetic analyses based on mitogenomic datasets recovered the monophyly of Chinemesa, with the translocation of trnI - trnQ as a potential molecular synapomorphy for the genus.