NOMEN: Rhynchota Burmeister 1835: 39 [H. Burmeister. Handbuch der Entomologie, Bd.2., Abt.1, 1835
ORIGINAL LISTED
MEMBERSHIP (Burmeister 1835):
Siphunculata (= Pediculina) + Arthroidignatha [= Coccina
(incl. Aleyrodes) + Aphidina
+ Psyllodes
+ Cicadina
+ Hydrocores + Geocores]
JUNIOR
CIRCUMSCRIPTIONAL SYNONYM:
= Menorrhyncha
Brauer 1885
TYPIFIED
NAME IN BASIC FORMAT: Pediculus/f=Cicada/g
(sine Psocus, Ricinus, Thrips)
TYPIFIED
NAMES IN USE:
MODERN STATUS: the oldest name of a non-accepted polyphyletic taxon.
The order Rhynchota was established by H. Burmeister in the second volume of his famous book "Handbuch der Entomologie" published in 1835. This order united sucking lice (which were classified as a tribe Pediculina) with bugs and other joint-beaked insects, basing on a wrong assumption that their piercing-sucking mouth apparatuses have the same origin. In 1850, M.M. Spinola demonstrated that the mouth apparatus of sucking lice has nothing in common with beak of bugs, because it has no any paired components, while the piercing-sucking beak of bugs contains two pairs of styli originated from a pair of mandibles and a pair of maxillae, which are initially present in mouth apparatus of insects. M.M. Spinola outlined and characterized the taxon, which unites all joint-beaked insects, and named it Arthroidignatha. Recently the taxon Arthroidignatha is generally accepted; according to modern data it is holophyletic. The small taxon Siphunculata (sucking lice) is also holophyletic. Siphunculata and Arthroidignatha belong to the common higher holophyletic taxon Acercaria. But within Acercaria, Siphunculata beongs to the holophyletic taxon Panpsocoptera, which includes also Copeognatha (bark and book lice), Mallophaga (biting lice) and Rhyncophthirina (elephant lice), while Arthroidignatha belongs to a holophyletic taxon Condylognatha, which includes also Thysanoptera (thrips). Thus, if recognize the taxon Rhynchota, according to modern data it appears to be polyphyletic.
Phylogeny of Acercaria and place of the polyphyletic order Rhynchota:
COMMENT. Originally, Burmeister (1835) regarded his name Rhynchota to be a grammatic correction of the name Rhyngota Fabricius 1803 (= Ryngota Fabricius 1775) and a synonum of Hemiptera Linnaeus 1758. Actually all these names differ in their original circumscriptions and should not be regarded as circumscriptional synonyms. In modern literature the name Rhynchota Burmeister 1835 is often wrongly used for a generally accepted holophyletic taxon whose correct circumscriptional name is Arthroidignatha Spinola 1850.
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| Hemiptera Linnaeus 1758 | - | + | + | - |
| Ryngota Fabricius 1775 = Rhyngota Fabricius 1799 | - | + | + | + |
| Rhynchota Burmeister 1835 | + | - | + | - |
| Arthroidignatha Spinola 1850 | - | - | + | - |
Kluge
2010 BioNomina
Dual-Nom
:
The widespread use of the name “Rhynchota” to refer to the taxon consisting of Heteroptera, Coleorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, and Plantisuga, goes against circumscriptional principles. Original circumscriptions of the names Ryngota, Rhyngota, and Rhynchota do not fit the taxon Arthroidignatha.
The name Ryngota Fabricius 1775 and its emendation Rhyngota Fabricius 1799 were originally proposed for a taxon (order, or class) that included, besides genera of Arthroidignatha (Fulgora, Membracis, Tettigonia, Cicada, Cercopis, Notonecta, Sigara, Nepa, Naucoris, Acanthia, Cimex, Reduvius, Aphis, Chermes and Coccus), the genera Thrips and Pulex, consistent with the current Thysanoptera and Aphaniptera. The fleas (Aphaniptera) being now placed with the Metabola, the taxon Ryngota is unacceptable as polyphyletic and, consequently, its name should be not used.
Original circumscription of the name Rhynchota Burmeister 1835 also does not fit Arthroidignatha. Burmeister (1835) introduced the name Rhynchota as an emendation of Fabricius’s Rhyngota, yet used it for a differently circumscribed taxon Arthroidignatha + Siphunculata. Thus, unlike Rhyngota, the original circumscription of the name Rhynchota does not include Aphaniptera and Thysanoptera, but includes Siphunculata. Such unjustified emendation of a circumscriptional name is considered a new name with its own authorship, year, and circumscription. By mid-19th century, the taxon Rhynchota got adopted by some workers who believed arthroidignathan and siphunculatan piercing-sucking mouth apparatuses to share the same origin — which, as we’ve learned, is not the case (in the Siphunculata, the piercing-sucking apparatus is formed by the labium and hypopharynx; in Arthroidignatha, by the mandibles and maxillary laciniae). Nowadays the taxon Rhynchota is rejected as being polyphyletic. The name Rhynchota Burmeister 1835 is preoccupied by Rhynchota Billberg 1820, which is a junior circumscriptional synonym of Aphaniptera Kirby & Spence 1815.