Dataset for: Untangling the assassin’s web: Phylogeny and classification of the spider-associated Emesine complex (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Web-building spiders are formidable predators, yet assassin bugs in the
Emesine Complex (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae, Saicinae, and
Visayanocorinae) prey on spiders. The Emesine Complex comprises
>1,000 species and these web-associated predatory strategies may
have driven their diversification. However, lack of natural history data
and a robust phylogenetic framework currently preclude tests of this
hypothesis. We combine Sanger (207 taxa, 3,865 bp) and high-throughput
sequencing data (15 taxa, 381 loci) to generate the first taxon- and
data-rich phylogeny for this group. We discover rampant paraphyly among
subfamilies and tribes, necessitating revisions to the classification. We
use ancestral character state reconstructions for 40 morphological
characters to identify diagnostic features for a revised classification.
Our new classification treats Saicinae Stål and Visayanocorinae Miller as
junior synonyms of Emesinae Amyot and Serville, synonymizes the emesine
tribes Ploiariolini Van Duzee and Metapterini Stål with Emesini Amyot and
Serville, and recognizes six tribes within Emesinae (Collartidini
Wygodzinsky, Emesini, Leistarchini Stål, Oncerotrachelini trib. nov.,
Saicini Stål stat. nov., and Visayanocorini Miller stat. nov.). We show
that a pretarsal structure putatively involved in web-associated behaviors
evolved in the last common ancestor of Emesini, the most species-rich
clade within Emesinae, suggesting that web-associations could be
widespread in Emesinae.