Termitaphididae
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Termitaradus mitnicki from the Miocene in Dominican amber |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Termitaphididae | ||||||||||||
| JG Myers , 1924 |
The Termitaphididae are a family of bugs (Heteroptera) within the suborder Pentatomomorpha . Of them only 9 species in 2 genera with tropical and subtropical distribution are known.
features
The Termitaphididae are two to three millimeters long and have a body shape that resembles a scale. Their egg-shaped or elliptical body is strongly flattened and has flat plates and specially modified setae on the sides . Females have 13 platelets on each side, while those of the meso- and metathorax are fused in males .
The mandibular spine and maxillary spine, the mandibles and maxillae , which have been greatly transformed into suction tools , are elongated and rolled up inside the head in the resting position. The representatives of the Termitaphididae have neither compound eyes nor point eyes ( Ocelli ). They also lack wings. Their legs are small and cannot be seen when looking at the animals. The entire body is provided with spherical, knot-like setae. The feelers are strongly angled. The parempodia on the claws are fused with the pulvillus , as is also the case with other representatives of the Pentatomomorpha . The females lack the ovipositor . Several bald, polished areas can be seen on the sterna of the abdomen. The nymphs as well as the adults lack the dorsal scent gland openings on the abdomen.
Occurrence
The family is distributed tropical and subtropical and occurs in the Neotropic , Afrotropic , Oriental and in Australasia .
Way of life
Almost nothing is known about the way of life of the animals. These bugs, which have been greatly modified in terms of their morphology, have so far only been found in termite burrows, as is the case with some bark bugs. The females lay their eggs under those of the termites. The similarity to the bark bugs suggests that the Termitaphididae also feed on fungi, but this has not yet been proven. All species are believed to be photophobic and sensitive to touch.
Taxonomy and systematics
The family was originally from Filippo Silvestri first described in 1911 as Termitocoridae after already in 1902 Erich Wasmann described a type of group, but as unallocated kind to Gleichflüglern presented (Homoptera). JG Myers realized that the first description of Silvestri was not based on a genus and therefore suggested the name Termitaphididae as a replacement for the group.
The Termitaphididae form with the closest related bark bugs (Aradidae) the common superfamily Aradoidea , which stands in a sister group relationship to all other Pentatomomorpha ( called Trichophora ) . The assignment to the superfamily Aradoidea is mainly based on the modified, extremely long and rolled up mouthparts. Schuh & Slater (1995) recognize the following genres within the family:
- Genus Termitaphis (1 species, Neotropis)
- Genus Termitaradus (8 species; 5 Neotropics, 1 Australia, 1 Africa, 1 Orientalis)
One fossil species, Termitaradus protera , has been identified from the Miocene Chiapas amber from Mexico, and two other species, Termitaradus mitnicki and Termitaradus avitinquilinus , from Dominican amber .
supporting documents
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h R. T. Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995, pp. 214ff.
- ↑ a b c d Family Termitaphididae. Australian Biological Resources Study. Australian Faunal Directory, accessed December 27, 2013 .
- ↑ Hong-Mei Li, Ri-Qiang Deng, Jin-Wen Wang, Zhen-Yao Chen, Feng-Long Jia, Xun-Zhang Wang: A preliminary phylogeny of the Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) based on nuclear 18S rDNA and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 37 (2005) pp. 313-326.
- ↑ Michael S. Engel: A new termite bug in Miocene amber from the Dominican Republic (Hemiptera, Termitaphididae). ZooKeys 45: 61-68 (2009) doi : 10.3897 / zookeys.25.267
literature
- RT Schuh, JA Slater: True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York 1995.
