Pachygronthidae

Pachygronthidae
Systematics
Class :	Insects (Insecta)
Order :	Schnabelkerfe (Hemiptera)
Subordination :	Bed bugs (heteroptera)
Partial order :	Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily :	Lygaeoidea
Family :	Pachygronthidae
Scientific name
	Pachygronthidae
	Stål , 1865

The Pachygronthidae are a family of bedbugs (Heteroptera) within the suborder Pentatomomorpha . Until the revision of the Pentatomomorpha with a focus on the Lygaeoidea by Henry in 1997, it was a subfamily of the ground bugs (Lygaeidae) and was then placed in the family rank. It comprises 13 genera and 78 species. In Europe, two species are represented, none of which occur in Central Europe.

features

The bugs have a slender, elongated body, which is usually pale in color and roughly structured in dots. The head is angled downwards, the cheek plates (bucculae) laterally delimiting the beak groove are short. The antennae are elongated and thread-like or slightly spindle-shaped. Its first link either protrudes clearly beyond the frontal plate ( clypeus ) ( Pachygronthinae ), or hardly reaches its apex ( Teracrinae ). The pronotum is trapezoidal and usually has a flat, transverse depression in the middle. The thighs ( femora ) of the front legs are thickened and reinforced with conspicuous thorns. The costal edge of the hemielytras is not drawn out thin and does not extend beyond the lateral edges of the abdomen ( connexiva ). The membranes of the hemielytres have simply shaped wing veins , which neither reunite after branching nor are connected by cross veins. Most species have fully developed wings (macropter), but species are also known in which individuals with shortened (brachypteran) wings occur. All the spiracles on the abdomen are ventrally . The segmental sutures on the abdomen are straight and extend to the side of the abdomen. In the male genitalia the paramers are symmetrical and only in the Pachygronthinae have a tuft of sensory hair. In the nymphs , the olfactory gland openings lie between the fourth and fifth, as well as the fifth and sixth abdomen segment.

distribution

The family is represented in all major zoogeographical regions of the world, but occurs predominantly in the tropics and subtropics. Stenophyella macerta is one of the most common types of bedbugs in Australia.

Way of life

Knowledge of this family's way of life is very limited. Most species feed on monocots and presumably live on the plants and suckle on the seeds. So far, they have been detected on the sweet grasses (Poaceae), sour grass plants (Cyperaceae) and Restionaceae .

Taxonomy and systematics

Carl Stål created the first representation of the group above the genre level with works from the years 1865, 1870 and 1874. Starting with Distant's work in 1882, most of the subsequent authors viewed the group as a subfamily of the ground bugs (Lygaeidae). The current classification was created in 1997 after a revision of the Pentatomomorpha with a focus on the Lygaeoidea by Thomas J. Henry . He raised the subfamily of the ground bugs back to the family rank, as well as their subgroups, including the Pachygronthidae. He regards the Heterogastridae as a sister group of the family.

The family includes the following subfamilies and genera:

Subfamily Pachygronthinae (6 genera; circumtropical)
Subfamily Teracrinae (7 genera, 22 species; predominantly eastern hemisphere, only Phlegyas in the western hemisphere)

The following species occur in Europe:

Cymophyes golodnajana Seidenstücker, 1953
Cymophyes ochroleuca fever, 1870

supporting documents

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b T. 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 Family Pachygronthidae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Australian Faunal Directory, accessed April 8, 2014 .
↑ ^a ^b Pachygronthinae. Fauna Europaea, accessed April 8, 2014 .
^ RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, p. 258.

literature

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

[Henry-1] A ^b T. 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

[abrs-2] Family Pachygronthidae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Australian Faunal Directory, accessed April 8, 2014 .

[www.faunaeur.org-3] Pachygronthinae. Fauna Europaea, accessed April 8, 2014 .

[Schuh/Slater-4] RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, p. 258.