Ceratocombidae

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Ceratocombidae
Ceratocombus aotearoae

Ceratocombus aotearoae

Systematics
Class : Insects (Insecta)
Subclass : Flying insects (Pterygota)
Order : Schnabelkerfe (Hemiptera)
Subordination : Bed bugs (heteroptera)
Partial order : Dipsocoromorpha
Family : Ceratocombidae
Scientific name
Ceratocombidae
Fever , 1861

The Ceratocombidae are a family of bugs (Heteroptera) within the suborder Dipsocoromorpha . About 50 species in 8 genera of the still little researched group are described. Hundreds of species of this family have been documented, but still not described for the first time. There are 3 species in Europe, 2 of them in Germany and one of them also in Austria.

features

The animals are 1.5 to 3.0 millimeters long and are among the smallest representatives of the bed bugs. Most species are darkly yellowish to dark brown in color. The kinds of Ceratocombini and Trichotonanninae look like small, long-legged representatives of the Drymini ( Rhyparochromidae ); the species of Issidomimini are similar to small flower bugs (Anthocoridae). Your body is only slightly sclerotized .

Their four-limbed antennae are flagellate, the second limb is 1.5 to 2.5 times as long as the first. The third and fourth links are elongated and curled. The labium is variable. Its shape ranges from thin and elongated to short and thick. It has four limbs, whereby in some species the basal limb is thickened and weakly sclerotized, making the labium appear tripartite. The pronotum lacks a keel or a groove. The compound eyes are well developed or regressed. The point eyes ( ocelli ) can also be developed or absent. The proepimeron is enlarged and covers the rear edge of the head. The number of tarsi on the legs is different. The tarsis formulas 2: 2: 2, 2: 3: 3, 3: 3: 2 and 3: 3: 3 exist, although they can also differ between the sexes within a species. The pretarsi are variable. Parempodia and pulvilli are either developed or absent. The metapleura are strongly regressed and the olfactory gland openings on the metathorax are located in the middle of the metasterna. Wing dimorphism is common, so within a species there are brachyptere animals whose wings have receded and macroptere, fully winged animals. It also occurs in some species on Coleopterie so that the Hemielytren are unusual similarly built for bugs, such as the wing covers (elytra) of beetles . In this case, the pleural area on the thorax of the animals is constructed similarly to that of bed bugs of the Schizopteridae family . The forewings have a clear but very short interruption in the middle along the costal margin. However, this occurs only in macropter and not in coleopteric animals. Two to four large cells are formed distally on the wings. With the exception of the ceratocombini in males, the abdomen is often asymmetrically built, just as the male genitals are usually asymmetrical. The ninth laterotergite is secondarily connected to the eighth tergum and is therefore, unlike all other bugs, like an appendix. With Ceratocombus , however, both are symmetrical. The spiracles are formed on the second or third to eighth abdominal segment and are usually on the dorsal side. The females have a well-developed ovipositor and a spermatheca with a pear-shaped part and a short canal.

Within the Dipsocoromorpha, the group is unique in that its Ceratocombini and some Issidomimini have preserved symmetrical abdomen and genitals.

Occurrence

The family is distributed worldwide, but has its main distribution area in the tropics. In the cold and temperate latitudes they are rather rare, but there are species such as B. the Palearctic widespread Ceratocombus corticalis , which occurs exclusively in cold areas.

Way of life

Little is known about the way the bedbugs live. Most species live in moderately moist leaf litter, dead wood, mosses and similar habitats in crevices, etc. Representatives of the genus Ceratocombus can be found in Europe e.g. B. typically in the litter of coniferous forests mixed with fern leaves, drying peat moss mixed with leaf litter, in the needle litter of moist forests or in the litter of reed grass. The best way to catch the animals is with light and floor traps or with picking funnels . The animals are presumably all unspecific predators that feed on small arthropods . The characteristics of the mouthparts show that there are presumably searching and active hunters and also species that eat mushrooms. In some genera there are nimble runners. The bugs are very sensitive to dehydration.

Taxonomy and systematics

Pavel Štys realized in 1970 that the group should be placed in the family rank. Previously, it was assigned to the Dipsocoridae (= Cryptostemmatidae) or their subfamily Dipsocorinae (= Cryptostemmatinae). The following subtaxa are currently recognized:

The following species occur in Europe:

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Schuh & Slater: True Bugs of the World p. 75ff.
  2. ↑ a b Ceratocombidae. Fauna Europaea, accessed January 2, 2014 .
  3. ^ A b c Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs. Volume 4: Pentatomomorpha II: Pentatomoidea: Cydnidae, Thyreocoridae, Plataspidae, Acanthosomatidae, Scutelleridae, Pentatomidae. (=  The animal world of Germany and the adjacent parts of the sea according to their characteristics and their way of life . 81st part). Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2008, ISBN 978-3-937783-36-9 , pp. 13 ff .
  4. ↑ a b Family Ceratocombidae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Australian Faunal Directory, accessed January 1, 2014 .

literature

  • RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 1995.
  • E. Wachmann, A. Melber, J. Deckert: Bugs. Volume 3: Pentatomorpha I, Aradidae, Lygaeidae, Piesmatidae, berytidae, Pyrrhocoridae, Alydidae, Coreidae, Rhopalidae, Stenocephalidae. Redesign of the bugs in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2007, ISBN 978-3-937783-29-1 .