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Berytidae

Stilt bugs
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily: Lygaeoidea
Family: Berytidae
Fieber, 1851
Synonyms[1]
  • Neididae Kirkaldy, 1902
  • Berytinidae Southwood and Leston, 1959

Berytidae is a family of the order Hemiptera ("true bugs"), commonly called stilt bugs[2] or thread bugs[3] (not to be confused with the thread-legged bugs, Emesinae). Most berytids are brown to yellow, with species that are plant sap feeders, a few being predaceous. About 200 species are known from all around the world and they are classified into three subfamilies.

Description

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Dorsal view of a typically gracile species in the family Berytidae

The Berytidae are extremely gracile insects with legs so long and slender as to suggest common names such as "thread bugs" and "stilt bugs". In this they resemble the Emesinae, with which they are easily confused, though they are in different families. They may be distinguished most readily by the forelegs, that in the Emesinae are raptorial in a way resembling those of the Mantodea, Mantispidae and certain other invertebrate predators. In form and function the forelegs of the Berytidae are roughly similar to those of their other legs. Other differences are subtler and not fully consistent. For one thing, the antennae of most Berytidae though long, geniculate, and in other ways generally similar to Emesinae, tend to have a more or less obvious swelling at the tip. Some members of the family also have slight swellings at the distal ends of the femora of their legs, though in many species this is either absent or not obvious. The head often has a forward-facing protrusion between the antennae bases. The wing membrane has five veins and can be hard to examine in short-winged forms. Some species have spine like protrusions emerging at the base of the forewings which have a pore through which chemicals are secreted. Many species have split or toothed claws which apparently allow, along with the long legs, these bugs to overcome plant defenses involving stick hair on their surfaces. Many species are not purely plant-sap feeding and will opportunistically scavenge on insects trapped on the surfaces of sticky-haired plants.[4] They typically probe all surfaces and can inflict a painful prick on the human skin as well.[5]

Biology

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The habits of most species are not well known. Most are believed to be sap-suckers like most other Hemiptera, but some also feed on mites and small insects.[6][7][8]

Subfamilies and selected genera

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Three subfamilies are usually recognised:[6]

Berytinae

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tribe Berytini Fieber, 1851
tribe Berytinini Southwood & Leston, 1959

Gampsocorinae

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Southwood and Leston, 1959

Metacanthinae

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Douglas and Scott, 1865

Unplaced genera

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References

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  1. ^ "Neididae Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  2. ^ Thomas J. Henry (1997). Monograph of the stilt bugs, or Berytidae (Heteroptera) of the Western Hemisphere. Entomological Society of Washington.
  3. ^ Alan Weaving; Mike Picker; Griffiths, Charles Llewellyn (2003). Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. New Holland Publishers, Ltd. ISBN 1-86872-713-0.
  4. ^ Wheeler, A. G.; Schaefer, Carl W. (1982). "Review of Stilt Bug (Hemiptera: Berytidae) Host Plants". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 75 (5): 498–506. doi:10.1093/aesa/75.5.498. ISSN 1938-2901.
  5. ^ Schaefer, Carl W.; Panizzi, Antonio Ricardo, eds. (2000). "Stilt Bugs (Berytidae)". Heteroptera of Economic Importance (0 ed.). CRC Press. pp. 747–758. doi:10.1201/9781420041859-33. ISBN 978-0-429-11838-8. Retrieved 2022-06-13.
  6. ^ a b Dellapé, Pablo M.; Henry, Thomas J. (2021). "family Berytidae Fieber 1851". Lygaeoidea Species File. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  7. ^ "Berytidae". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-06-19.