Distributional patterns of the American Peiratinae (Heteroptera: Reduviidae)

Based on distributional data of 40 species of Peiratinae, historical relationships of five Amazonian areas (Paranaense, Atlantic, Pacific, Amazonian, and Cerrado) and two Chacoan areas (Chaco and Caatinga), were investigated through a parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE). The resulting area cladogram indicates the following sequence of area fragmentation: (Cerrado (Caatinga (Chaco, ((Pacific, Amazonian), (Atlantic, Paranaense))))). It is proposed that these results reflect the gradual development of a diagonal of open formations (Chaco-Cerrado-Caatinga), which separated the former continuous tropical forest into two parts, namely, northwestern (Pacific plus Amazonian) and southeastern (Paranaense plus Atlantic).