Hermatobates
| Hermatobates | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the family | ||||||||||||
| Hermatobatidae | ||||||||||||
| Poisson , 1965 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Hermatobates | ||||||||||||
| Carpenter, 1892 |
Hermatobates is a genus of bed bugs . It is the only genus of the Hermatobatidae family within the Gerromorpha suborder and one of the fewinsect groups that livepurely in the sea .
features
The bugs are 2.7 to 4.0 millimeters long. Their body is egg-shaped and is reminiscent of aptere (wingless) water striders with a short body. They are black to dark brown in color. The animals are well adapted to marine life and have large compound eyes for seeing in the water and powerful claws for clinging to rocks in the intertidal zone.
The body and the relatively short extremities are covered with short, velvety hair. The very broad head is directed downwards. Point eyes ( Ocelli ) are missing. The antennae are quite long, with the second link being the longest. They turn in pretty close to one another and far from the front edge of the compound eyes. The pronotum is very short. The meso- and metanotum are fused and extend over the abdomen in the males. In females, the mesonotum is praised on the side. The olfactory gland openings on the metathorax are covered under the edge of the metasternum. All previously known species are apter (wingless). The first pair of legs is short and strong. Those of the males are thickened, which probably serves to better pack the female. The slender but strong claws arise on the first pair of legs just in front, on the other legs directly at the tip of the tarsi . All legs have three tarsal links, with the first link being very short. All hips ( coxes ) are oriented horizontally and directed backwards. The abdomen is heavily modified and greatly shortened. Many terga and sterna are fused, especially in females. In nymphs, the olfactory gland openings are located on the tergite of the fourth abdominal segment . The ovipositor of the females is strongly reduced compared to other types of Gerromorpha. The male pygophore is spherical and twisted so that the opening is dorsal .
Occurrence and way of life
Most of the known species of the genus are distributed in the Indian or Pacific Ocean. Only one species, Hermatobates bredini , is known from the West Indies . The bugs colonize coral reefs and rocks in the sea. At high tide, they retreat into an air bubble and come out to feed at low tide. However, those who do not make it into an air bubble in time before the high tide can survive the high tide on the surface of the water. You move very quickly on it and can jump considerably far. The development takes place with only four nymphal stages .
Taxonomy and systematics
Carpenter described the group in 1892 as a genus of water striders (Gerridae). In 1901, Coutiere & Martin raised them to the rank of subfamily (Hermatobatinae). It was not until 1965 that got taxon by Poisson to today recognized family rank. Presumably it is the sister group of the taxon Bachläufer (Veliidae) + Wasserläufer (Gerridae). For a long time, only a small number of specimen copies of the family existed, as the animals were rarely found despite an intensive search. Nine species were first described on the basis of only 14 animals. John T. Polhemus and Dan A. Polhemus tried to change this fact and devoted themselves intensively to this group of animals. In several years of work at 50 locations in 20 countries around the world, they were finally able to catch over 1000 specimens by 2012 and thus strongly advance research on the animals. They also discovered two new species of the genus.
The following 12 species are assigned to the genus and family:
- Hermatobates haddoni Carpenter, 1892, Syn .: H. walkeri China, 1957 (north and west coast of Australia and adjacent islands)
- Hermatobates hawaiiensis China, 1956 (Hawaii)
- Hermatobates bredini Herring, 1965 (Islands of the Caribbean)
- Hermatobates tiarae Herring, 1965 (Eastern Pacific south of the equator)
- Hermatobates palmyra Polhemus & Polhemus, 2012 ( Palmyra Atoll and Pagan )
- Hermatobates djiboutensis , Coutière & Martin, 1901 (western Indian Ocean)
- Hermatobates singaporensis Cheng, 1976 ( Strait of Malacca and coastal areas to the north)
- Hermatobates weddi China, 1957 (Australia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Indonesia, Tonga, Fiji and Solomon Islands)
- Hermatobates marchei Coutiére & Martin, 1901 (Philippines, Caroline Islands , New Guinea)
- Hermatobates kula Polhemus & Polhemus, 2006 (far east New Guinea and the islands to the east of it)
- Hermatobates armatus Andersen & Weir, 2000 ( Chesterfield Islands )
- Hermatobates schuhi Polhemus & Polhemus, 2012 ( Tokara Islands , Ryūkyū Islands )
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c R. T. Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, pp. 97f.
- ↑ Family Hermatobatidae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Australian Faunal Directory, accessed December 28, 2013 .
- ^ A b John T. Polhemus, Dan A. Polhemus: A Review of the Genus Hermatobates (Heteroptera: Hermatobatidae), with Descriptions of Two New Species. Entomologica Americana, 118 (1): pp. 202-241. 2012.
literature
- RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995.