Berytidae

Berytidae is a family of the order Hemiptera ("true bugs"), commonly called stilt bugs[2] or thread bugs.[3]

Stilt bugs
Dorsal view of a typically gracile species in the family Berytidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Infraorder: Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily: Lygaeoidea
Family: Berytidae
Synonyms[1]
  • Neididae Kirkaldy, 1902
  • Berytinidae Southwood and Leston, 1959

Description

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.

Biology

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. One common genus in this family is Neides[4][5][6]

Subfamilies and selected genera

Three subfamilies are usually recognised:[4]

Berytinae

Aurh.: Fieber, 1851 - all genera:

tribe Berytini Fieber, 1851
  1. Apoplymus Fieber, 1859
  2. Arideneides Tatarnic, 2022
  3. Bezu Stusak, 1989
  4. Chinoneides Stusak, 1989
  5. Neides Latreille, 1802
  6. Neoneides Stusak, 1989
  7. Yemmatropis Hsiao, 1977
tribe Berytinini Southwood & Leston, 1959
  1. Berytinus Kirkaldy, 1900

Gampsocorinae

Aurh.: Southwood and Leston, 1959

Metacanthinae

Aurh.: Douglas and Scott, 1865

Unplaced genera

  • Acanthophysa Uhler, 1893
  • Aknisus McAtee, 1919
  • Protacanthus Uhler, 1894
  • Paleologus Distant, 1902

References

  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. Dellapé, Pablo M.; Henry, Thomas J. (2021). "family Berytidae Fieber 1851". Lygaeoidea Species File. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  5. "Berytidae". GBIF. Retrieved 2019-06-19.


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