Higher‐level phylogeny and evolutionary history of Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) inferred from mitochondrial genome sequences

The higher‐level phylogeny of Pentatomomorpha, the second largest infraorder of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), which includes many important agriculture and forestry pests, has been debated for decades. To investigate the phylogeny and evolutionary history of Pentatomomorpha, we assembled new mitochondrial genomes for 46 species through next‐generation sequencing of pooled genomic DNA. Based on a much broader taxon sampling than available previously, Bayesian analyses using a site‐heterogeneous mixture model (CAT+GTR) resolved the higher‐level phylogeny of Pentatomomorpha as (Aradoidea + (Pentatomoidea + (Coreoidea + (Lygaeoidea + Pyrrhocoroidea))). There was a transition from trnT/trnP to trnP/trnT in the common ancestor of Pyrrhocoroidea, which indicates that this gene rearrangement could be an autapomorphy for Pyrrhocoroidea. Divergence time analyses estimated that Pentatomomorpha originated c. 242 Ma in the Middle Triassic, and most of the recognized superfamilies originated during the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. The diversification of families within Pentatomomorpha largely coincided with the radiation of angiosperms during the Early Cretaceous. There was a transition from trnT/trnP to trnP/trnT in the common ancestor of Pyrrhocoroidea, which indicates that this gene rearrangement could be an autapomorphy for Pyrrhocoroidea. Bayesian analyses using a site‐heterogeneous mixture model (CAT+GTR) resolved the higher‐level phylogeny of Pentatomomorpha as (Aradoidea + (Pentatomoidea + (Coreoidea + (Lygaeoidea + Pyrrhocoroidea))). Divergence time analyses estimated that Pentatomomorpha originated c. 242 Ma in the Middle Triassic, and most of the recognized superfamilies originated during the Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous.