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Lygaeidae
	Acroleucus brevicollis
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Suborder:	Heteroptera
Infraorder:	Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily:	Lygaeoidea
Family:	Lygaeidae; Schilling, 1829
Diversity
	at least 110 genera

The Lygaeidae are a family in the Hemiptera (true bugs), with more than 110 genera in four subfamilies. The family is commonly referred to as seed bugs, and less commonly, milkweed bugs, or ground bugs.^[1] Many species feed on seeds, some on sap or seed pods, others are omnivores and a few, such as the wekiu bug, are insectivores.^[2]^[3] Insects in this family are distributed across the world.^[4]

The family was vastly larger, but numerous former subfamilies have been removed and given independent family status, including the Artheneidae, Blissidae, Cryptorhamphidae, Cymidae, Geocoridae, Heterogastridae, Ninidae, Oxycarenidae and Rhyparochromidae, which together constituted well over half of the former family.^[5]^[6]

The bizarre and mysterious beetle-like Psamminae were formerly often placed in the Piesmatidae, but this is almost certainly incorrect. Their true affiliations are not entirely resolved.^[7]

Distinguishing characteristics

Lygaeidae are oval or elongate in body shape and have four-segmented antennae.^[8] Lygaeidae can be distinguished from Miridae (plant bugs) by the presence of ocelli, or simple eyes. They are distinguished from Coreidae (squash bugs) by the number of veins in the membrane of the front wings, as Lygaeidae have only four or five veins.^[9]

Subfamilies and selected genera

An incomplete list of Lygaeidae genera is subdivided as:^[10]^[11]

subfamily Ischnorhynchinae Stål, 1872

Crompus Stål, 1874
Kleidocerys Stephens, 1829

subfamily Lygaeinae Schilling, 1829

Lygaeus Fabricius, 1794
Oncopeltus Stål, 1868
Melanocoryphus Stål, 1872
Spilostethus Stål, 1868
Tropidothorax Bergroth, 1894

subfamily Orsillinae Stål, 1872

Nysius Dallas, 1852
Orsillus Dallas, 1852

subfamily † Lygaenocorinae
Unplaced genera

Lygaeites Heer, 1853

The Pachygronthinae Stål, 1865 (type genus Pachygrontha Germar, 1840) may be placed here^[10] or elevated to the family Pachygronthidae.^[11]

Gallery

False milkweed bug, Lygaeus turcicus, on Asteraceae flower
Small milkweed bug, Lygaeus kalmii), nymph (bottom) and mature (top)
Large milkweed bug, Oncopeltus fasciatus, on a butterfly weed
Oncopeltus varicolor ssp. stalii
Large milkweed bug nymph feeding on milkweed before extracting its stylet, sheathing it again in its rostrum

References

^ Edde, Peter A. (27 August 2021). "2 - Arthropod pests of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)". Field Crop Arthropod Pests of Economic Importance: 74–139. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-818621-3.00009-4. ISBN 9780128186213.
^ Gillespie, David R. (1 January 2017). "Omnivory – A Flexible Feeding Strategy". Reference Module in Life Sciences. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.12260-5. ISBN 9780128096338.
^ Eiben, Jesse A.; Rubinoff, Daniel (December 2010). "Life history and captive rearing of the Wekiu bug (Nysius wekiuicola, Lygaeidae), an alpine carnivore endemic to the Mauna Kea volcano of Hawaii". Journal of Insect Conservation. 14 (6): 701–709. doi:10.1007/s10841-010-9298-y. S2CID 44239028.
^ "Family Lygaeidae - Seed Bugs". bugguide.net.
^ Henry, T.J. (1997). "Phylogenetic analysis of family groups within the infraorder Pentatomomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), with emphasis on the Lygaeoidea". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 90 (3): 275–301. doi:10.1093/aesa/90.3.275.
^ Cassis G., Gross G.F. (2002). Zoological Catalogue of Australia: Hemiptera: Heteroptera (Pentatomomorpha). CSIRO Publishing. p. 157. ISBN 9780643068759.
^ David A. Grimaldi & Michael S. Engel (2007). "An unusual, primitive Piesmatidae (Insecta: Heteroptera) in Cretaceous amber from Myanmar (Burma)" (PDF). American Museum Novitates (3611): 1–17. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2008)3611[1:AUPPIH]2.0.CO;2. S2CID 86107041.
^ Slater, James Alexander (1995). A catalogue of the Lygaeidae of the world (1960-1994). New York, N.Y.: New York Entomological Society. ISBN 978-0-913-424-16-2.
^ "Family Lygaeidae". ENT 425 - General Entomology.
^ ^a ^b BioLb.cz: family ground bugs: Lygaeidae Schilling, 1829 (retrieved 26 October 2021)
^ ^a ^b Dellapé, Pablo M.; Henry, Thomas J. (2019). "family Lygaeidae Schilling, 1829". Lygaeoidea Species File. Retrieved 2019-06-19.