Expanding and dating the phylogeny of Phylinae (Hemiptera: Miridae)

Phylinae are a diverse subfamily of Miridae that are found in all biogeographic regions with the highest biodiversity in Mediterranean climates. Though the current phylogeny covers many important genera, a better representation of taxa is required for host-plant reconstruction and divergence time analyses. Host-plant reconstruction has been studied primarily in Lepidoptera leaving major phytophagous insect lineages unexplored. This is particularly evident for the Hemiptera that contain two of the most species-rich plant-associated insect families, Cicadellidae and Miridae. The mirid subfamily Phylinae are known to have a varied host repertoire ranging from a single plant species to species in multiple plant orders. A more densely sampled phylogeny is critical to reconstruct host-plant associations. Additionally, while Phylinae fossils are rare, we here expand outgroups to include the Tingidae to place enough fossils for the first divergence dating analysis of Phylinae.