Megaris (genus)

Megaris
Systematics
Order :	Schnabelkerfe (Hemiptera)
Subordination :	Bed bugs (heteroptera)
Partial order :	Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily :	Pentatomoidea
Family :	Megarididae
Genre :	Megaris
Scientific name of the family
	Megarididae
	McAtee & Malloch , 1928
Scientific name of the genus
	Megaris
	Stål , 1862

Megaris is the only genus of the Megarididae family ofthe bedbugs suborder Pentatomomorpha . It includes 16 species .

features

The animals are five millimeters or less long and have an egg-shaped, strongly convex body. The scutellum is enlarged, spherical and covers the abdomen and the wings.

The front edge of the head and the front and side edge of the pronotum are grooved and slightly turned back. The antennae are four-parted and carry numerous setae that are as long as the diameter of the segments (females) or are significantly longer than this (males). The shield completely covers the abdomen and wings. The forewings are twice as long as the abdomen and have a thin area around the middle of the costalader for wing folding . The wing membrane lacks parallel wing veins or it has a single large vein. The tarsi are two-part. The Trichobothria on the abdomen are arranged obliquely at the level of the spiracles . The genitals of males are simple and consist of a conjuctiva that encloses a tubular endophallic canal. The spermatheca is regressed and simple. It is sack-shaped or spherical and it lacks the flange-like part and a pump mechanism. The ovipositor of the females is plate-shaped. The nymphs have a strongly spherical, shiny, strongly sclerotized body. Most of their tergal sutures on the abdomen are fused.

The shortened body, the enlarged label, the elongated antennae of the males and probably also the simple structure of the genitals of both sexes are characteristic of the group.

Occurrence

The genus is exclusively Neotropical widespread, with Megaris majusculus an endemic is Cuba.

Way of life

At least Megaris puertoricensis and Megaris semiamicta are known to feed on cherry myrtle ( Eugenia ), the latter species suckling on their flowers.

Taxonomy and systematics

McAtee & Malloch originallydescribed the taxon as a subfamily of the stink bug (Pentatomidae) in1928. Frederick McDonald raised them to family rank in 1979.

supporting documents

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g R.T. Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, pp. 228f.

literature

RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995.

[Schuh/Slater-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g R.T. Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, pp. 228f.