Afropeltis
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The
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
''Helopeltis'', also sometimes known as mosquito bugs, is a group of heteropterans in the family
Miridae The Miridae are a large and diverse insect family at one time known by the Synonym (taxonomy), taxonomic synonym Capsidae. Species in the family may be referred to as capsid bugs or "mirid bugs". Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and g ...
(capsid bugs) and tribe
Dicyphini ''Dicyphini'' is a tribe of Heteroptera, bugs in the family Miridae. Subtribes and Genera The ''On-line Systematic Catalogue of Plant Bugs'' includes: Subtribe Dicyphina * ''Campyloneura'' Fieber, 1861 * ''Campyloneuropsis'' Poppius, 1914 * ''C ...
. They include
pests PESTS was an anonymous American activist group formed in 1986 to critique racism, tokenism, and exclusion in the art world. PESTS produced newsletters, posters, and other print material highlighting examples of discrimination in gallery represent ...
of various crops, including cacao,
cashew Cashew is the common name of a tropical evergreen tree ''Anacardium occidentale'', in the family Anacardiaceae. It is native to South America and is the source of the cashew nut and the cashew apple, an accessory fruit. The tree can grow as t ...
,
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
and
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of south-western China and nor ...
. Now in a different
subgenus In biology, a subgenus ( subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the ge ...
, or placed in its own genus. A number of ''Afropeltis'' species are pests in Africa. Mosquito bugs have a characteristic spine on the scutellum, which is a diagnostic feature. Classification in the field is based on morphological characteristics, with considerable variations in colouration between insects of the same species (although for example, ''H. theivora'' is characteristically green and ''H. antonii'' red-brown).


Damage and distribution

With typical
Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...
n sucking mouthparts, they pierce plant tissues and cause damage ranging from leaf tattering and fruit blemishes, to complete death of shoots, branches or whole plants. There has been evident
speciation Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations evolve to become distinct species. The biologist Orator F. Cook coined the term in 1906 for cladogenesis, the splitting of lineages, as opposed to anagenesis, phyletic evolution within ...
along the islands of the
Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...
and there may be
cryptic species In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
in this
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
. ''Helopeltis'' spp.
sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...
are important 'new encounter' pests of SE Asian cocoa including: * ''H. antonii'':
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
through to
West Irian Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch colonial empire, Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively n ...
* ''H. bakeri'':
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
and
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
* ''H. bradyi'':
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...
* ''H. clavifer'':
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
and
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
* ''H. collaris'': Philippines * ''H. sulawesi'':
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
* ''H. sumatranus'':
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
* '' H. theivora'' (with ''H. theobromae'' as a sub-species): India through to
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
Other cocoa Mirid pest species, very similar to ''Helopeltis'', are the African species which were placed into ''Afropeltis'' by Schmitz (1968). These species usually have a lesser pests status than their Asian counterparts, with ''
Sahlbergella singularis ''Sahlbergella'' is a genus of African bugs in the family Miridae and tribe Dicyphini (subtribe Odoniellina). Species are mostly distributed in Africa, where ''S. singularis'' is a major insect pest of cacao: causing damage similar to ''Distan ...
'' and '' Distantiella theobromae'' causing greatest cocoa tree and crop damage in Central and
West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...
. ''
Monalonion ''Monalonion'' is a genus of bugs in the family Miridae and tribe Dicyphini (subtribe Monaloniina). Species are mostly distributed in Central and South America, where some including ''M. bondari'', have minor pest status: causing damage similar ...
'' species, belonging to the same
tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
, are similarly minor pests of
Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...
n cocoa.


Species

The
Catalogue of life The Catalogue of Life (CoL) is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxono ...
currently (2023Catalogue of life
(searched 20 December 2023)) lists: # '' Helopeltis alluaudi'' # '' Helopeltis anacardii'' # ''
Helopeltis antonii ''Helopeltis antonii'', also known as the tea mosquito bug, are heteropterans found within the Miridae family. They have a relatively large geographical distribution and are a known pest of many agricultural “cash” crops such as cocoa, cashew ...
'' # '' Helopeltis bakeri'' # '' Helopeltis basilewskyi'' # '' Helopeltis bergevini'' # '' Helopeltis bergrothi'' # '' Helopeltis bradyi'' # '' Helopeltis carayoni'' # '' Helopeltis cinchonae'' # '' Helopeltis clavifer'' # '' Helopeltis collaris'' # '' Helopeltis corbisieri'' # '' Helopeltis couturieri'' # '' Helopeltis cuneata'' # '' Helopeltis fasciaticollis'' # '' Helopeltis gerini'' # '' Helopeltis ghesquierei'' # '' Helopeltis hyalospilosus'' # '' Helopeltis insularis'' # '' Helopeltis labaumei'' # '' Helopeltis lalandei'' # '' Helopeltis lemosi'' # '' Helopeltis maynei'' # '' Helopeltis mayumbensis'' # '' Helopeltis melanescens'' # '' Helopeltis obscuratus'' # '' Helopeltis orophila'' # '' Helopeltis pellucida'' # '' Helopeltis pernicialis'' # '' Helopeltis plebejus'' # '' Helopeltis podagricus'' # '' Helopeltis poppiusi'' # '' Helopeltis pseudomaynei'' # '' Helopeltis rauwolfiae'' # '' Helopeltis schoutedeni'' # '' Helopeltis seredensis'' # '' Helopeltis sulawesi'' # '' Helopeltis sumatranus'' # ''
Helopeltis theivora The genus ''Helopeltis'', also sometimes known as mosquito bugs, is a group of heteropterans in the family Miridae (capsid bugs) and tribe Dicyphini. They include pests of various crops, including cacao, cashew, cotton and tea. Now in a differen ...
'' # '' Helopeltis villiersi'' # '' Helopeltis waterhousei'' # '' Helopeltis westwoodii''


''Afropeltis''

Entwistle (1972) lists and maps ten species of ''Afropeltis'' attacking cocoa: * the '' A. bergrothi'' group: ** ''A. bergrothi'': widely distributed east of the
Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali, Nige ...
** ''A. lalendei'' (= ''H. bergevini''): very common,
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
to
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
** ''A. serendensis'': Ivory Coast and probably
Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
** ''A. corbisieri'': humid forest in central Africa ** ''A. gerini'': southern
Cameroun Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...
** ''A. mayumbensis'': north and east of the
Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...
* ''A. poppiusi'': widespread, but only found on cocoa in
Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...
* ''A. schoutedeni'': the most widespread in tropical Africa * ''A. lemosi'':
São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe, officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa. It consists of two archipelagos around the two main isla ...
* ''A. westwoodi'': widespread in west and central Africa


References


External links

* *
DropData cocoa pest guide

PestInfo wiki
{{Authority control Miridae genera Dicyphini