Data from: Molecular phylogeny of Triatomini (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Triatominae)

Background: The Triatomini and Rhodniini (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) tribes
include the most diverse Chagas disease vectors; however, the phylogenetic
relationships within the tribes remain obscure. This study provides the
most comprehensive phylogeny of Triatomini reported to date. Methods: The
relationships between all of the Triatomini genera and representatives of
the three Rhodniini species groups were examined in a novel molecular
phylogenetic analysis based on the following six molecular markers: the
mitochondrial 16S; Cytochrome Oxidase I and II (COI and COII) and
Cytochrome B (Cyt B); and the nuclear 18S and 28S. Results: Our results
show that the Rhodnius prolixus and R. pictipes groups are more closely
related to each other than to the R. pallescens group. For Triatomini, we
demonstrate that the large complexes within the paraphyletic Triatoma
genus are closely associated with their geographical distribution.
Additionally, we observe that the divergence within the spinolai and
flavida complex clades are higher than in the other Triatoma complexes.
Conclusions: We propose that the spinolai and flavida complexes should be
ranked under the genera Mepraia and Nesotriatoma. Finally, we conclude
that a thorough morphological investigation of the paraphyletic genera
Triatoma and Panstrongylus is required to accurately assign queries to
natural genera.