Insects in the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Phymatinae are commonly called ambush bugs after their habit of lying in wait for prey, relying on their superb

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

. Armed with

raptorial In biology (specifically the anatomy of arthropods), the term ''raptorial'' implies much the same as ''predatory'' but most often refers to modifications of an arthropod leg, arthropod's foreleg that make it function for the grasping of prey whi ...

forelegs, ambush bugs routinely capture prey ten or more times their own size. They form a subgroup within the

assassin bugs The Reduviidae is a large cosmopolitan family of the suborder Heteroptera of the order Hemiptera (true bugs). Among the Hemiptera and together with the Nabidae almost all species are terrestrial ambush predators; most other predatory Hemiptera ar ...

Description

Phymatinae are long. The most distinguishable trait of this group is the presence of pronounced raptorial forelegs. In '' Phymata'', the scutellum is triangular and shorter than the

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

. In '' Macrocephalus'', the scutellum is narrow and rounded, extending to the tip 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 ...

. Phymatinae normally have a large fore

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

and clubbed antennae. The

forewing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwi ...

membrane A membrane is a selective barrier; it allows some things to pass through but stops others. Such things may be molecules, ions, or other small particles. Membranes can be generally classified into synthetic membranes and biological membranes. Bi ...

s sometimes lack distinct

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life * Cellphone, a phone connected to a cellular network * Clandestine cell, a penetration-resistant form of a secret or outlawed organization * Electrochemical cell, a de ...

s. The antennae have four segments. There are two

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

beak The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for pecking, grasping, and holding (in probing for food, eating, manipulating and ...

has three segments. The tarsi also have three segments. The rear half of the

expands beyond the edges of the wings. Compared to classic assassin bugs, ambush bugs are shorter, stouter, more colorful, and have larger heads in proportion to their bodies. It is hypothesized that the coloration of these insects is an adaptation to allow them to camouflage within their environment, specifically an evolutionary effort to blend in with the flowers of their host plant. Ambush bugs can be found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions all over the world, excluding Australia and New Zealand.

Etymology

The name Phymatinae is derived from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

''phymata'', meaning "swollen", which presumably refers to the enlarged abdomen and femora.

Taxonomy

Ambush bugs are insects in the order Hemiptera, or "

true bugs Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They ...

". They occupy the family Reduviidae, and form the subfamily Phymatinae. This subfamily was often given family-level status and this classification is still used in some textbooks. Based on cladistic analyses, however, ambush bugs (Phymatinae) are a type of assassin bug (

Reduviidae The Reduviidae is a large Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family of the suborder Heteroptera of the Order (biology), order Hemiptera (true bugs). Among the Hemiptera and together with the Nabidae almost all species are terrestrial ambush ...

). Approximately 300 species have been documented, and they are a sister group of the

Holoptilinae The Holoptilinae are a subfamily of Reduviidae (assassin bugs) known as feather-legged bugs or ant wolves. Several members of the subfamily specialize on ants. About 16 genera (one fossil) are known, with about 80 species described. Species in ...

. The genera of ambush bugs are separated into four tribes, but this separation is based purely on phenotypic similarities rather than molecular data. The exact relationships between different groups of Phymatinae are understudied, and there are likely species yet to be discovered. The Phymatinae are currently separated into the following genera: Phymatinae_Blr

*'' Amblythyreus'' *'' Lophoscutus'' Kormilev, 1951 *'' Macrocephalus'' Swederus, 1787 *'' Phymata'' Latreille, 1802 *'' Themonocoris'' *''Glossopelta'' *'' Carcinocoris'' *''Chelocoris'' *''Microtomus'' *''Neocentrocnemis'' *''Ptilocnemus'' *''Agdistocoris'' *''Agreuocoris'' *''Bakerinia'' *''Cnizocoris'' *''Diurocoris'' *''Eurymnus'' *''Extraneza'' *''Goellneriana'' *''Hoberlandtiana'' *''Kormilevida'' *''Metagreuocoris'' *''Narina'' *'' Oxythyreus'' *''Parabotha'' *''Paragreuocoris''

Behavior

Ambush bugs occupy a similar niche to that of the crab spider, camouflaged with their host plant and lying in wait for pollinators and other invertebrate prey to come within range. These hemipterans often attack prey many times larger than themselves, which they subdue with an immobilizing venom. File:Ambush bug catch attempt.webm, Adult ''Phymata'' sp. attempting its lie in wait technique to ambush a syrphid fly ('' Orthonevra nitida'') and a '' Halictus'' bee File:Ambush bug Catch Halictus.webm, Adult ''Phymata'' sp. catches a '' Halictus'' bee. File:Ambush bug catch honeybee.webm, Adult ''Phymata'' sp. catches a much larger

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the ...

. File:Ambush bug mating attempt334.webm, Ambush bugs attempting mating

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3436499 Reduviidae Hemiptera subfamilies