''Eysarcoris'' is a genus of shield bugs belonging to the family
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 ...
, subfamily
Pentatominae
Pentatominae is a subfamily of Pentatomidae, a family of shield bugs. This subfamily is the largest one within the Pentatomidae, having 4937 species classified in 938 genera. Species in this subfamily are phytophages and several of them are consid ...
, and typical of the tribe Eysarcorini.
Description
Stink bugs of this genus are relatively small (<6 mm in length) and obovate in shape. There is a dense covering of punctures on much of the body. The head and the ventral surface of the thorax are covered with club-shaped hairs.
''Eysarcoris'' belongs to a group of stink bugs (also including ''
Sepontia'', ''
Spermatodes'' and ''
Stagonomus'') which have a broad
scutellum and an auriculate/spine-like process anterior to the scent gland opening, and do not have a median sulcus in the thoracic
sterna
''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have determined that this arrangement was paraphyletic. It is now restricted to the typi ...
.
Ecology
''Eysarcoris'' are
herbivores
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...
that live on various plants.
Some ''Eysarcoris'' are plant pests: ''E. guttiger'' is a pest of
soybean
The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed.
Soy is a key source o ...
and
sesame
Sesame (; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cultivated for ...
, while ''E. trimaculatus'' and ''E. ventralis'' are pests of
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 ...
.
Research
The
mitochondrial genome
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA and mDNA) is the DNA located in the mitochondria organelles in a eukaryotic cell that converts chemical energy from food into adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA is a small portion of the DNA contained in ...
s of various ''Eysarcoris'' species have been sequenced.
Species
* ''
Eysarcoris aeneus''
(Scopoli, 1763)
* ''
Eysarcoris confusus''
Fuente, 1971
* ''
Eysarcoris distinctus''
(Schouteden)
* ''
Eysarcoris hispalensis''
Fuente, 1971
* ''
Eysarcoris lereddii''
(Le Guillou)
* ''
Eysarcoris luisae''
Fuente, 1971
* ''
Eysarcoris perlatus''
Fabricius
* ''
Eysarcoris uniformis''
Fuente, 1971
* ''
Eysarcoris ventralis''
(Westwood, 1837) - white spotted bug
References
External links
''BioLib''''Fauna Europaea''
{{Taxonbar , from=Q4038472
Pentatomidae genera
Eysarcorini