Alydidae, commonly known as broad-headed bugs, is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of true bugs very similar to the closely related

Coreidae Coreidae is a large family (biology), family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus ''Coreus'', which derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning bedbug. As a fam ...

(leaf-footed bugs and relatives). There are at least 60

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and 300

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

altogether. Distributed in the

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

and warmer regions of the Earth, most are

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

and

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

animals; for example

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

has a mere 10 species, and only 2 of these occur outside the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

region.

Names

Broad-headed bugs are known as knobe in the Meto and Funai Helong languages of West Timor,

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, ...

Description

Broad-headed bugs are up to long, and have slender bodies. Some have long and very thin legs. The most notable characteristics of the family are that the head is broad, often similar in length and width to the pronotum and the scutellum, and that the last antennal segments are elongated and curved. The

compound eye A compound eye is a Eye, visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidium, ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens (anatomy), lens, and p ...

s are globular and protruding, and they also have

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

. The femora of the hindlegs bear several strong spines; the tarsus has three segments. Most species have well-developed hemelytra (forewings), allowing them to fly well, but in some the hemelytra are vestigial. The membranous part of the hemelytra have several closely spaced long veins. Alydidae are generally of dusky or blackish coloration. The upperside of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

is usually bright orange-red. this color patch is normally not visible as it is covered by the wings; it can be exposed, perhaps to warn would-be

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s of these animals' noxiousness: They frequently have scent glands that produce a stink considered to be worse than that of true stink bugs (

Pentatomidae Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert G ...

). The stink is said to smell similar to a bad case of halitosis. Sometimes the adults have reduced wings. Both, nymphs and adults of some species, such as '' Dulichius inflatus'' and '' Hyalymenus'' spp. are ant mimics and live in ant nests.

Ecology

These bugs mainly inhabit fairly

arid Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

and sandy

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

, like seashores,

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without closed forests except near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the tropical and subtropica ...

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

s. Their main food is

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s, which they pierce with their

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

to drink the nutritious fluids contained within. Some are economically significant pests, for example '' Leptocorisa oratoria'' on

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

Systematics

Two major lineages are generally accepted as subfamilies; a third (the Leptocorisinae) is now placed as a

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 ...

Leptocorisini of the Micrelytrinae.

Genera

These 60 genera belong to the family Alydidae: * '' Acestra'' Dallas, 1852 * '' Alydus'' Fabricius, 1803 * '' Anacestra'' Hsiao, 1964 * '' Apidaurus'' Stål, 1870 * '' Bactrocoris'' Kormilev, 1953 * '' Bactrodosoma'' Stål, 1860 * '' Bactrophya'' Breddin, 1901 * '' Bactrophyamixia'' Brailovsky, 1991 * '' Bloeteocoris'' Ahmad, 1965 * '' Burtinus'' Stål, 1859 * '' Calamocoris'' Breddin, 1901 * '' Camptopus'' Amyot & Serville, 1843 * '' Cosmoleptus'' Stål, 1873 * '' Cydamus'' Stål, 1860 * '' Daclera'' Signoret, 1863 * '' Darmistus'' Stål, 1859 * '' Dulichius'' Stål, 1866 * '' Esperanza'' Barber, 1906 * '' Eudarmistus'' Breddin, 1903 * '' Euthetus'' Dallas, 1852 * '' Grypocephalus'' Hsiao, 1963 * '' Hamedius'' Stål, 1860 * '' Heegeria'' Reuter, 1881 * '' Hyalymenus'' Amyot & Serville, 1843 * '' Hypselopus'' Burmeister, 1835 * '' Leptocorisa'' Latreille, 1829 * '' Longicoris'' Ahmad, 1968 * '' Lyrnessus'' Stål, 1862 * '' Marcius'' Stål, 1865 * '' Megalotomus'' Fieber, 1860 * '' Melanacanthus'' Stål, 1873 * '' Micrelytra'' Laporte, 1833 * '' Mirperus'' Stål, 1860 * '' Mutusca'' Stål, 1866 * '' Nariscus'' Stål, 1866 * '' Nemausus'' Stål, 1866 * '' Neomegalotomus'' Schaffner & Schaefer, 1998 * '' Noliphus'' Stål, 1859 * '' Oxycranum'' Bergroth, 1910 * '' Paramarcius'' Hsiao, 1964 * '' Paraplesius'' Scott, 1874 * '' Planusocoris'' * '' Protenor'' Stål, 1867 * '' Rimadarmistus'' Bliven, 1956 * '' Riptortus'' Stål, 1860 * '' Robustocephalus'' Ahmad, Abbas, Shadab & Khan, 1979 * '' Slateria'' Ahmad, 1965 * '' Stachyocnemus'' Stål, 1870 * '' Stachyolobus'' Stål, 1871 * '' Stenocoris'' Burmeister, 1839 (rice bugs) * '' Tenosius'' Stål, 1860 * '' Tollius'' Stål, 1870 * '' Trachelium'' Herrich-Schäffer, 1850 * '' Tuberculiformia'' Ahmad, 1967 * '' Tupalus'' Stål, 1860 * '' Zulubius'' Bergroth, 1894 * † '' Heeralydus'' Štys & Riha, 1975 * † '' Orthriocorisa'' Scudder, 1890 * † '' Sulcalydus'' Štys & Riha, 1975 * † '' Willershausenia'' Popov, 2007 Alydidae by kadavoor.jpg, Riptortus sp. in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

DulichusInflatus.jpg, '' Dulichius inflatus'', ant mimic

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1640226 Coreoidea Heteroptera families