Patterns of chromosome banding in four nabid species (Heteroptera, Cimicomorpha, Nabidae) with high chromosome number karyotypes

Male Nabis (Aspilaspis) indicus (Stal), N. (A.) viridulus Spinola, Himacerus (Himacerus) mirmicoides (O. Costa) (2n = 32 + XY) and Prostemma guttula (Fabricius) (2n = 26 + XY) were studied using C-banding, silver nitrate staining and basespecific fluorochrome (DAPI and CMA(3)) staining. N. indicus differed from N. viridulus in distribution pattern of C-bands, which were telomeric in the former while interstitial in the latter. H. mirmicoides showed interstitial C-bands in the majority of autosomes. P. guttula had no conspicuous C-bands in other chromosomes, but only in the Y, which was totally heterochromatic. C-heterochromatin was labelled with DAPI, indicating that it was AT-rich. In every species, both X and Y chromosomes were NOR-bearing, and the NOR regions were GC-rich. In H. mirmicoides and P guttula, NORs showed sub-median location in the X and distal in the Y, such a pattern being probably common in Nabidae. The present paper provides new information on the genome organization and new cytological markers useful for a better insight into karyotype evolution of nabid species.