BACKGROUND: The family Reduviidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), or assassin bugs, is 
among the most diverse families of the true bugs, with more than 6,000 species. 
The subfamily Triatominae (kissing bugs) is noteworthy not simply because it is 
the only subfamily of the Reduviidae whose members feed on vertebrate blood but 
particularly because all 147 known members of the subfamily are potential Chagas 
disease vectors. Due to the epidemiological relevance of these species and the 
lack of an efficient treatment and vaccine for Chagas disease, it is more common 
to find evolutionary studies focusing on the most relevant vectors than it is to 
find studies aiming to understand the evolution of the group as a whole. We 
present the first comprehensive phylogenetic study aiming to understand the 
events that led to the diversification of the Triatominae.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We gathered the most diverse samples of 
Reduviidae and Triatominae (a total of 229 Reduviidae samples, including 70 
Triatominae species) and reconstructed a robust dated phylogeny with several 
fossil (Reduviidae and Triatominae) calibrations. Based on this information, the 
possible role of geological events in several of the major cladogenetic events 
within Triatominae was tested for the first time. We were able to not only 
correlate the geological changes in the Neotropics with Triatominae evolution 
but also add to an old discussion: Triatominae monophyly vs. paraphyly.
CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We found that most of the diversification events 
observed within the Rhodniini and Triatomini tribes are closely linked to the 
climatic and geological changes caused by the Andean uplift in South America and 
that variations in sea levels in North America also played a role in the 
diversification of the species of Triatoma in that region.