Setocoris
| Setocoris | ||||||||||||
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Drosera barbigera with a bug of the genus Setocoris |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Setocoris | ||||||||||||
| China & Carvalho , 1951 |
Setocoris is a genus of the soft bugs (Miridae). The species of the genus are characterized by the fact that they are particularly adapted to life on carnivorous plants .
description
The body of the animals is about 4 mm long, the two antennae 2.5 mm, the proboscis 1.5 mm. The body, legs and antennae are slightly hairy; depending on the species, they are either green with red spots, others are pure black, others are white, red and black.
Young specimens are not able to fly; wings only develop with increasing maturity. The full life cycle of the species has not yet been researched, but during the summer dormancy of the plants, the insects seem to rest in a different shape than their host plant (flatter body, head and thorax combined).
nutrition
Setocoris feed on the body fluids of the insects caught by their host plants (" kleptoparasitism "). They pierce them with their proboscis and suck out the body fluid. The front pair of legs is then used for cleaning. It can be assumed that the plants benefit from the (nutrient-containing) excrement of the animals, either by absorbing the nutrients through the foliage or indirectly through the soil and the roots ( "mutualism" ).
distribution
The genus is widespread in Australia, mainly in Southwest Australia. It can be found there on species of the genus rainbow plants, as well as on the sundew species Drosera erythrorhiza , Drosera pallida , Drosera barbigera , Drosera stelliflora and Drosera ordensis .
Systematics
The genus was first described in 1951 by China and Carvalho with the type species Setocoris bybliphilus . In 1953 China described two species of Cyrtopeltis , in 1986 both were transferred to the genus from Cassis as Setocoris droserae and Setocoris russeli .
literature
- Allen Lowrie: Carnivorous Plants of Australia. Vol. 3, University of Western Australia, Nedlands 1998, ISBN 1-875560-59-9 .
- WE China, JCM Carvalho: A new ant-like Miridae from Western Australia (Hemiptera, Miridae). In: Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (12) 4, 1951, pp. 221-225.
- WE China: Two new species of the genus Cyrtopeltis (Hemiptera) associated with sundews in Western Australia. In: Western Australian Naturalist. 4, 1953, pp. 1-12.
- JCM Carvalho: A catalog of the Miridae of the world. Part II. (= Arquivos do Museu Nacional, Rio de Janeiro. 45). 1958.
- G. Cassis: A systematic study of the subfamily Dicyphinae (Heteroptera: Miridae). PhD dissertation. Oregon State University, Corvallis. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor 1986.
