Geocoridae
| Geocoridae | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Geocoris punctipes when sucking on whiteflies |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Geocoridae | ||||||||||||
| Bear jump , 1860 |
The Geocoridae are a family of bugs (Heteroptera) within the suborder Pentatomomorpha . Until before the revision of the Pentatomomorpha with emphasis on the Lygaeoidea by Thomas J. Henry in 1997, it was a subfamily of the ground bugs (Lygaeidae) and was then placed in the family rank. It comprises 26 genera and around 280 species. In Europe 26 species are represented, six of which occur in Central Europe. Unlike the other representatives of the Lygaeoidea, most of the species in this family are predatory. They are therefore of economic importance in agriculture and are used in biological pest control.
features
Have the bugs this family either an elongated, elongated egg-shaped or oval body ( Geocorinae and Henestarinae ), an elongated egg-shaped body with bizarre modifications ( Pamphantinae : Epipolopini ) or mimic with their appearance, the (ants Bledionotinae , Pamphantinae: Cattarini , Pamphantini ). Their large and showy compound eyes are often kidney-shaped and, in some species, stalked. They are directed backwards in many species and protrude or almost protrude beyond the front angles of the pronotum in most species. Point eyes ( Ocelli ) are formed. The antennae and the labium are four-part. The pronotum is broad and has a transverse furrow. On the abdomen, the spiracles are dorsal on the second to fourth segment , and ventral on the fifth to seventh segment . The nymphs usually have segment sutures that are strongly curved backwards from the side edge to the olfactory gland openings on the abdomen. Your scent gland openings are located on the abdomen between the fourth and fifth as well as the fifth and sixth tergum . In many species the hemielytres are shortened.
distribution
The family is distributed worldwide, but has its main distribution center in the eastern hemisphere. Most of the species belong to the genus Geocoris (approx. 170 species) and Germalus (37 species).
Way of life
Most of the knowledge about the way animals live relates to the economically important species of the genus Geocoris . Unlike the other representatives of the Lygaeoidea , they are representatives of the Geocorinae generalist hunters and feed on small arthropods . They are among the most important natural pest enemies in agricultural ecosystems, such as cotton plantations in the USA, and are used in biological pest control. However, there are some species that are omnivorous and, in addition to predatory diets, also feed on sucking seeds. The bugs live on plants, although some species seem to have specialized in certain species.
The way of life of the representatives apart from the subfamily Geocorinae has hardly been researched. They are believed to be all herbivores and suckle on seeds. Of the Bledionotinae it is only known that they live in the ground, of the Henestarinae it is known that they apparently feed on seeds and live on the plants. They are often tied to halophilic plant species. The Pamphantinae live on trees and so far have essentially only been found in the treetops of neotropical rainforests. Nothing is known about one of the Australian species, Austropamphantus woodwardi .
Taxonomy and systematics
Friedrich Wilhelm Felix von Bärensprung first described the group above the genus level in 1860. It has long been considered a subfamily of the ground bugs (Lygaeidae). The current classification of the group was created in 1997 after a revision of the Pentatomomorpha with a focus on the Lygaeoidea by Henry. He reclassified the ground bug subfamily and placed them in the family rank. He considers the taxon, which is formed from the subfamilies Geocorinae, Bledionotinae (including Pamphantini) and Henestarinae, as a monophyletic group due to the kidney-shaped compound eyes, the curved segment sutures on the abdomen of the nymphs and the screwed appendage on the phallus of the males . Slater joined the 1999 essentially, but raised the tribe Pamphantini to the rank of a subfamily, which includes the nominotypical tribe Pamphantini and the newly established tribe Cattarini and Epipolopini. From his point of view, the position of the Bledionotinae within the family remains doubtful, but he found no alternative.
According to this view, the family comprises the following subfamilies and tribe:
- Subfamily Geocorinae (13 genera, 233 species; worldwide)
- Subfamily Pamphantinae (9 genera, 45 species; western hemisphere and one species endemic to Australia ( Austropamphantus woodwardi ))
- Tribus Pamphantini (6 genera, 22 species; mainly Neotropic )
- Tribe Cattarini (9 species; northern South America)
- Tribe Epipolopini (14 species; northern South America)
- Subfamily Bledionotinae (1 species ( Bledionotus systellonotoides ), eastern Mediterranean to Afghanistan)
- Subfamily Henestarinae (3 genera, 16 species; mainly Palearctic and Afrotropic as well as a monotypical genus ( Coriantipus ) from Argentina)
- Subfamily Australocorinae (1 genus Australocoris , three species; Queensland, Australia). This subfamily was only newly described in 2012
The following species occur in Europe:
- Bledionotus systellonotoides Reuter , 1878
- Engistus boops ( Dufour , 1857)
- Engistus commendatorius Puton , 1878
- Engistus exsanguis Stål , 1872
- Engistus salinus ( Jakovlev , 1874)
- Geocoris acuticeps Signoret , 1881
- Geocoris arenarius ( Jakovlev , 1867)
- Geocoris ater ( Fabricius , 1787)
- Geocoris chloroticus Puton , 1888
- Geocoris collaris Puton , 1878
- Geocoris desertorum ( Jakovlev , 1871)
- Geocoris dispar ( Waga , 1839)
- Geocoris erythrocephalus ( Lepeletier & Serville , 1825)
- Geocoris grylloides ( Linnaeus , 1761)
- Geocoris lapponicus Zetterstedt , 1838
- Geocoris lineola ( Rambur , 1839)
- Geocoris megacephalus ( Rossi , 1790)
- Geocoris oschanini ( Jakovlev , 1871)
- Geocoris pallidipennis ( A. Costa , 1843)
- Geocoris phaeopterus ( Germar , 1838)
- Geocoris pubescens ( Jakovlev , 1871)
- Henestaris halophilus ( Burmeister , 1835)
- Henestaris irroratus Horvath , 1892
- Henestaris laticeps ( Curtis , 1836)
- Henestaris thoracicus K. Schmidt , 1939
- Stenophthalmicus fajoumensis A. Costa , 1875
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Thomas J. Henry: Phylogenetic analysis of family groups within the infraorder Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), with emphasis on the Lygaeoidea. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 90, 3, pp. 275-301, 1997
- ↑ a b c d e f g Family Geocoridae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Australian Faunal Directory, accessed April 1, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Geocorinae. Fauna Europaea, accessed April 1, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Ekkehard Wachmann , Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: Bugs. Volume 3: Pentatomomorpha I: Aradoidea (bark bugs), Lygaeoidea (ground bugs, etc.), Pyrrhocoroidea (fire bugs) and Coreoidea (edge bugs, etc.). (= The animal world of Germany and the adjacent parts of the sea according to their characteristics and their way of life . 78th part). Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2007, ISBN 978-3-937783-29-1 , p. 78 .
- ^ RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, p. 257.
- ↑ Thomas J. Henry: Cymapamphantus valentineorum, a New Genus and Species of Pamphantinae (Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea: Geocoridae) from the British Virgin Islands, with a Checklist of the Species and Keys to the Tribes and Genera of the Subfamily. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 115, 4, pp. 392-401, 2013 doi : 10.4289 / 0013-8797.115.4.392
- ↑ MB Malipatil: Australocorinae, a new subfamily of Geocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lygaeoidea) from Australia, with descriptions of a new genus and two new species. Zootaxa, 3554 pp. 75-88, 2012
literature
- RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995.
