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Subfamily Asopinae - Predatory Stink Bugs

Stink (?) bug - brown on stem - Picromerus bidens

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Infraorder Pentatomomorpha

Superfamily Pentatomoidea

Family Pentatomidae (Stink Bugs)

Subfamily Asopinae (Predatory Stink Bugs)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

no generally accepted tribal arrangement exists

Explanation of Names

Asopinae Spinola 1850

Numbers

35 spp. in 16 genera in our area(1), ~300 spp. in 66 genera worldwide(2)

Identification

easily recognized by the free first segment of the rostrum(3); rostrum enlarged, very little of it fits between bucculae(4)

see(5)

"In identifying asopines it helps to be color blind" (D.B. Thomas)

Range

worldwide and throughout NA(1)

Food

Predatory, unlike other stink bugs; feed on other insects. Prey is primarily slow-moving soft-bodied insects, especially larvae. Most are generalist predators.

Remarks

Several species are used in Integrated Pest Management. Some are commercially available, e. g. Podisus maculiventris.

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

2.	Rider D. (2006-) Pentatomoidea home page

3.	An updated synopsis of the Pentatomoidea (Heteroptera) of Michigan Swanson D.R. 2012. Great Lakes Entomologist 45: 263-311.

4.	The Heteroptera (Hemiptera) of North Dakota I: Pentatomomorpha: Pentatomoidea Rider D.A. 2012. Great Lakes Entomologist 45: 312-380.

5.	Taxonomic synopsis of the asopine Pentatomidae (Heteroptera) of the western hemisphere Thomas D.B. 1992. Entomological Society of America (Thomas Say Monograph), Lantham, MD. 156 pp.

Contributed by John R. Maxwell on 4 January, 2009 - 2:59pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Vox Sciurorum, v belov
Last updated 18 July, 2019 - 12:12pm

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