1. Integrating and visualizing
taxonomic concept changes in
Heteroptera
Guanyang Zhang, Nico Franz, Arizona State University
5th International Heteropterists’ Society Meeting, Washington DC, July 21, 2014

2. How do we achieve this?
Can taxonomic names
alone do the job?

3. Why names are not good enough
• Same name may acquire different meanings through time
• Different names may refer to same underlying taxon
• Linnaean names and taxonomic perspectives tend to
accumulate many-to-many relationships that are difficult
to trace
• Meaning-name divergence occurs constantly
Franz & Peet (2009)

4. “Concept taxonomy”
• Proposed by Berendsohn, 1995.
• Referencing and reasoning with taxonomy concept and not just name
• “A taxonomic concept is the underlying meaning, or referential
extension, of a scientific name as stated by a particular author in a
particular publication. It represents the author’s full-blown view of
how the name reaches out to observed or unobserved objects in
nature (beyond statements about type specimens). It is a direct
reflection of what has been written, illustrated, and deposited by a
taxonomist, regardless of his or her theoretical orientation” (Franz &
Peet, 2009)
• Taxonomic concepts are labelled using the abbreviation ‘sec.’ for the
Latin secundum, or ‘according to’ (Berendsohn, 1995).

5. “Concept taxonomy”
Franz & Peet, 2009

6. Senior synonym ≠ each
synonymized concept
• Synonymy means that different taxonomic concepts
are congruent according to an author/publication
• Synonymy does not mean ‘the same’/one concept
– (Subjective) synonyms are anchored to different types and
represent a matter of opinion (although often based on data
and analyses)
– Resurrection of synonymized names/concepts happens

7. Study objective
• Use concept taxonomy approach with an logic
process implemented in a computer program
proposed or created by Franz & Ludaescher to
align, compare and visualize alternative
taxonomies and trace taxonomic history in
Heteroptera
• Can all taxonomic concepts be represented and
related?
• How resolved is the representation?

8. Mirid subfamilial and tribal classification
Cassis & Schuh, 2012

9. Two input taxonomies
• sec. Schuh, 1995  sec. Cassis & Schuh,
2012
• 8 subfamilies in both classifications
• Tribal classification more refined in Cassis &
Schuh, 2012
• Original taxonomic acts made elsewhere (e.g.
Tatarnic & Cassis, 2011; Wyniger, 2010)

10. Workflow
Schuh (1995) Cassis & Schuh (2012)
1 MIRIDAE 40 MIRIDAE
2 Isometopinae 41 Isometopinae
3 Isometopini 42 Diphlebini
4 Cylapinae 43 Gigantometopini
5 Cylapini 44 Isometopini
6 Psallopinae 45 Myiommini
7 Orthotylinae 46 Cylapinae
8 Halticini 47 Bothriomirini
9 Nichomachini 48 Cylapini
Schuh (1995) Cassis & Schuh (20
1 MIRIDAE 40 MIRIDAE
2 Isometopinae 41 Isometopinae
3 Isometopini 42 Diphlebini
4 Cylapinae 43 Gigantometopini
5 Cylapini 44 Isometopini
6 Psallopinae 45 Myiommini
7 Orthotylinae 46 Cylapinae
8 Halticini 47 Bothriomirini
9 Nichomachini 48 Cylapini
10 Orthotylini 49 Fulviini
11 Phylinae 50 Rhinomirini
12 Auricillocorini 51 Vaniini
13 Hallodapini 52 Psallopinae
14 Leucophoropterini 53 Orthotylinae
15 Phylini 54 Austromirini
16 Pilophorini 55 Ceratocapsini
17 Bryocorinae 56 Coridromiini
18 Bryocorini 57 Halticini
19 Dicyphini 58 Nichomachini
20 Dicyphina 59 Orthotylini
21 Monaloniina 60 Phylinae
22 Odoniellina 61 Auricillocorini
23 Eccritotarsini 62 Hallodapini
24 Eccritotarsina 63 Leucophoropterini
25 Palaucorina 64 Phylini
26 Deraeocorinae 65 Pilophorini
27 Clivinemini 66 Pronotocrepini
28 Deraeocorini 67 Bryocorinae
29 Hyaliodini 68 Bryocorini
30 Saturniomirini 69 Dicyphini
31 Surinamellini 70 Dicyphina
32 Termatophylini 71 Monaloniina
33 Mirinae 72 Odoniellina
34 Herdoniini 73 Eccritotarsini
35 Hyalopeplini 74 Eccritotarsina
36 Mecistoscelini 75 Palaucorina
37 Mirini 76 Deraeocorinae
38 Resthenini 77 Clivinemini
39 Stenodemini 78 Deraeocorini
79 Hyaliodini
80 Saturniomirini
81 Surinamellini
82 Termatophylini
83 Mirinae
84 Herdoniini
85 Hyalopeplini
86 Mecistoscelini
87 Mirini
88 Resthenini
89 Stenodemini
• Number each taxonomic concept/name

11. Workflow
• Number each taxonomic concept/name
• State parent-child relationship within each
taxonomy. Schuh, 1995:
1 Miridae is parent of 2 Isometopinae
1 Miridae is parent of 17 Bryocorinae
17 Bryocorinae is parent of 19 Dicyphini
19 Dicyphini is parent of 21 Monaloniina

12. Workflow
• Number each taxonomic concept/name
• State parent-child relationship within each
taxonomy.
• State articulations between concepts in two
different taxonomies
Five types of articulations that express relationships
– equals
– overlaps
– includes
– is_included_in
– disjoint

13. Workflow
• Number each taxonomic concept/name
• State parent-child relationship within each
taxonomy.
• State articulations between concepts in two different
taxonomies
– 1.xx - Schuh, 1995; 2.xx - Cassis & Schuh, 2012
– 2.66 (Pronotocrepini) is_included_in 1.13 (Hallodapini)
– 2.62 (Hallodapini) is_included_in 1.13 (Hallodapini)
– 2.67 (Dicyphina) equals 1.25 (Dicyphina)

14. Workflow
• Use EULER/X to compare and visualize
concept relationships between the two
taxonomies
https://bitbucket.org/eulerx/euler-project
Chen et al. (2014) http://arxiv.org/pdf/1402.1992v1.pdf
Bertram Ludaescher
UC Davis
Nico Franz, ASU

15. Schuh, 1995  Cassis & Schuh, 2012
Visualization output
2 – Cassis & Schuh (2012)
1 – Schuh (1995)

16. Schuh, 1995  Cassis & Schuh, 2012
Visualization output
- Merged square and octagon denotes congruent concepts
- Green box denotes unique/non-congruent concept in taxonomy 1
- Yellow octagon denotes unique/non-congruent concept in
taxonomy 2
Numbers can be replaced with actual names in input
1. Schuh, 1995 2. Cassis & Schuh, 2012

17. Schuh, 1995  Cassis & Schuh, 2012
Visualization output
- Concepts of Orthotylinae are congruent
- All lower-level concepts are properly included
in higher-level concepts
1. Schuh, 1995 2. Cassis & Schuh, 2012
Proper inclusion

18. Schuh, 1995  Cassis & Schuh, 2012
Visualization output
- Concepts of Orthotylini are not congruent
- Orthotylini sec. Cassis & Schuh more restrictive (2.Orthotylini)
1. Schuh, 1995 2. Cassis & Schuh, 2012

20. Pentatomoidea, sec. Rider  sec. Grazia et al
Rider, 2006 Grazia et al, 2008 (DNA+morphology)
ID NAME ACCORDING TO RANK ID NAME ACCORDING TO RANK
1 Pentatomoidea Rider (2006) Superfamily 21 Pentatomoidea Grazia etal (2008) Superfamily
2 Acanthosomatidae Rider (2006) Family 22 Urostylididae Grazia etal (2008) Family
3 Canopidae Rider (2006) Family 23 Saileriolidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
4 Cydnidae Rider (2006) Family 24 Plataspididae Grazia etal (2008) Family
5 Dinidoridae Rider (2006) Family 25 Phloeidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
6 Lestoniidae Rider (2006) Family 26 Serbaninae Grazia etal (2008) Subfamily
7 Megarididae Rider (2006) Family 43 Phloeinae Grazia etal (2008) Subfamily
8 Parastrachiidae Rider (2006) Family 28 Corimelaenidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
9 Pentatomidae Rider (2006) Family 29 Corimelaeninae Grazia etal (2008) Subfamily
27 Serbaninae Rider (2006) Subfamily 30 Thyreocorinae Grazia etal (2008) Subfamily
42 PentatominaeETAL Rider (2006) Subfamily 31 Parastrachiinae Grazia etal (2008) Subfamily
10 Phloeidae Rider (2006) Family 32 Cydnidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
44 Phloeinae Rider (2006) Subfamily 33 Thaumastellidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
11 Plataspididae Rider (2006) Family 34 Dinidoridae Grazia etal (2008) Family
12 Scutelleridae Rider (2006) Family 35 Tessaratomidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
13 Tessaratomidae Rider (2006) Family 36 Canopidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
14 Thaumastellidae Rider (2006) Family 37 Megarididae Grazia etal (2008) Family
15 Thyreocoridae Rider (2006) Family 38 Scutelleridae Grazia etal (2008) Family
16 Corimelaeninae Rider (2006) Subfamily 39 Lestoniidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
17 Thyreocorinae Rider (2006) Subfamily 40 Acanthosomatidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
18 Urostylididae Rider (2006) Family 41 Pentatomidae Grazia etal (2008) Family
19 Saileriolinae Rider (2006) Subfamily
20 Urostylinae Rider (2006) Subfamily

21. Pentatomoidea, sec. Rider  sec. Grazia et al
- Most concepts according two authors
are congruent
- Two concepts overlap
2. Grazia etal
1. Rider, 2006

22. Pentatomoidea, sec. Rider  sec. Grazia et al

23. Pentatomoidea, sec. Rider  sec. Grazia et al
Concepts of Saileriolidae(-inae)
are congruent, but raised to
family rank in 2. Grazia etal

24. Pentatomoidea, sec. Rider  sec. Grazia et al
Phloeidae sec. Grazia and Pentatomidae sec. Rider
overlap as Serbaninae is included in both and each
contains other unique concepts
Overlap

25. A species/genus-level example
Bekilya group Malagasy reduviids (Peiratinae)

26. Mutillocoris
Mutillocoris
vadoni
Mutillocoris
tricolor
2. Villiers 1949-1964
Bekilya mira Hovacoris bipunctatus
Bekilya Hovacoris
♂
♀
♂

27. Bekilya mira
Mutillocoris
Mutillocoris
tricolor
Hovacoris bipunctatus
Villiers 1964
Bekilya
Mutillocoris
vadoni
Hovacoris
1. Zhang&Weirauch, 2012

28. Checklist

29. 2. Villiers 1949-1964
1. Zhang&Weirauch, 2012
 Concept of Bekilya sec. Villiers
congruent with concept of B. mira
sec. Zhang & Weirauch, and sec.
Villiers
 Generic concepts of Bekilya and
Hovacoris sec. Villiers expanded
 Concept of Mutillocoris sec.
Villiers overlaps with with concept
of Bekilya or Hovacoris sec. Zhang
& Weirauch

31. A complex test case
• Leucophoropterini
– 23 genera and 104 species (Menard & Schuh, 2011)
– ~200 concepts
• Taxonomic changes/acts
– Species synonymy
– Subspecies synonymy
– Generic synonymy
– Generic reassignment/new combination
– New species
– New genera based on new species
– New genera based on described species
– Genera removed from tribe
– Incertae sedis
– Combination of the changes in above
• Species synonymy and generic reassignment

32. Leucophoropterini
New genera added, some genera removed and some species recognized as
Insertae sedis
Abuyogocoris None
Aitkenia New species added
Arafuramiris New species added
Biromiris New species added
Blesingia New species added; two species removed
Blesingia elegans Junior synonym; transferred to different genus
Blesingia latezonata Junior synonym; transferred to different genus
Collessicoris None
Ctypomiris New species added
Gulacapsus New species added
Leucophoroptera
New species added; two congeners synonymized; two species transferred to this
genus and synonymized with the senior synonym of the two synonymized
congeners; one species transferred to another genus
Leucophoroptera nitidior Junior synonym, congeneric
Leucophoroptera quadrimaculata Senior synonym of one congener and two species from another genus
Leucophoroptera macrozonata Transferred to different genus
Papuamimus None
Pseudohallodapocoris None
Sejanus
Three species removed to form a new genus; two species synonymized; 10
species removed and became insertae sedis (considered to be removed from the
tribe in current analysis)
Sejanus brunneus Junior synonym, congeneric; transferred to different genus
Sejanus tasmaniae Transferred to different genus
Sejanus albisignatus Transferred to different genus
Sejanus intermedius Junior synonym, congeneric; transferred to different genus
Sejanus melaleucae Junior synonym, congeneric; transferred to different genus
Sejanus rosei Junior synonym, congeneric
Sejanus rosei obscurior Junior synonym, intraspecific; transferred to different genus
Sejanus additional species transferred
to Ausejanus
Transferred to different genus
Solomonomimus None
Trichocephalocapsus None
Waterhouseana New species added
Dilatops Removed from tribe
Karoocapsus Removed from tribe
Lasiolabops Removed from tribe
Myrmicopsella Removed from tribe
Porophoroptera Removed from tribe
Schuhistes Removed from tribe
Tytthus Removed from tribe
Sejanus biniguni Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus fasciatus Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus fijiensis Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus hongkong Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus leai Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus novecaledonicus Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus occidentalis Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus ruber Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus rubricatus Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Sejanus trivinosus Insertae sedis (aka removed from tribe)
Pseudoleucophoroptera Junior synonym; genus-level
Pseudoleucophoroptera mamai Transferred to different genus
Pseudoleucophoroptera promeceops Transferred to different genus
Missanos New genus
Neaitkenia New genus
Neoleucophoroptera New genus
Johnstonsonius New genus
Papuamiroides New genus
Transleucophoroptera New genus
Ausejanus New genus
Austrodapus New genus
Summary of taxonomic acts
~100 taxonomic acts

34. Full representation and resolved
articulations

36. Conclusion
• Feasibility of concept taxonomy approach in
mapping taxonomic concepts in Heteroptera
• All taxonomic differences can be represented
• High resolution in differentiating and relating
taxonomic changes
• Input and knowledge from taxonomists is
critical

37. Further information
• taxonbytes.org
• https://bitbucket.org/eulerx/euler-project
• Franz & Peet (2009)
– http://taxonbytes.org/pdf/FranzPeet2009-
LanguageMappingTaxonomicConcepts.pdf
• Franz et al. (2014)
– http://www.semantic-web-
journal.net/system/files/swj623.pdf
• Past research and publicatios by N. Franz
– http://taxonbytes.org/prior-work-on-concept-
taxonomy-2013/

38. Acknowledgements
• NSF CAREER #1155984
• Ludaescher Lab @ UC Davis
Parastrachiidae? (-inae?)

39. Thank you!