Dysdercus

Dysdercus
Different aspects of D. cingulatus in Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Family: Pyrrhocoridae
Genus: Dysdercus
Guerin-Méneville, 1831
Species

see text

Dysdercus is a widespread genus of true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae; a number of species attacking cotton bolls may be called "cotton stainers".

Description

Species may be confused with bugs in the family Lygaeidae, but can be distinguished by the lack of ocelli on the head. They can be readily distinguished from most other genera of Pyrrhocoridae by the strong white markings at the junction of the head and thorax, and along the sides of the thorax, and often abdomen.

Ecology

Some members of the genus attack cotton bolls and are known as "cotton stainers."[1] There are several species of tachinid flies that are parasitoids of Dysdercus nymphs and have been used as biocontrol agents.[1][2]

Species

subgenus Dysdercus Guérin-Méneville, 1831[3]
subgenus Leptophthalmus Stål, 1870 (= Megadysdercus Breddin, 1900)[6]
subgenus Neodysdercus Stehlík, 1965[7]
subgenus Paradysdercus Stehlík, 1965
incertae sedis

References

  1. ^ a b Sabrosky, Curtis W. (1950). "Notes on Trichopodini (Diptera, Larvaevoridae), with description of a new parasite of cotton stainers in Puerto Rico". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 40 (11): 361–371. JSTOR 24531028.
  2. ^ Townsend, Charles H. T. (1913). "Muscoid Parasites of the Cotton—Stainer and Other Lygaeids". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 20 (2): 91–94. doi:10.1155/1913/43638.
  3. ^ Zrzavý, J.; Nedved, O. (1997). "Phylogeny of the New World Dysdercus (Insecta: Hemiptera: Pyrrhocoridae) and Evolution of their Colour Patterns". Cladistics. The International Journal of the Willi Hennig Society. 13 (1–2): 109–123. doi:10.1111/j.1096-0031.1997.tb00245.x. PMID 34920636. S2CID 221582417.
  4. ^ Legros, Vincent; Gasnier, Sophie; Rochat, Jacques (2016). "First general inventory of the terrestrial Heteroptera fauna and its specificity on the oceanic island of Reunion". Annales de la Société Entomologique de France. Nouvelle série. 52 (6): 311–342. doi:10.1080/00379271.2016.1275802. S2CID 89898731.
  5. ^ Dysdercus flavidus Signoret, 1861
  6. ^ Stehlík, J.; Kerzhner, I. M. (1999). "On taxonomy and distribution of some Palaearctic and Oriental Largidae and Pyrrhocoridae (Heteroptera)". Zoosystematica Rossica. 8 (1): 121–128.
  7. ^ Robertson, I.A.D. (2004). "The Pyrrhocoroidea (Hemiptera - Heteroptera) of the Ethiopian region". Journal of Insect Science. 4: 14. doi:10.1093/jis/4.1.14. PMC 528874. PMID 15861230.