Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
formerly treated under Lygaeidae; revised in Slater (1979)
(1)Numbers
30 spp. in 4 genera in our area,* 435 spp. in 50 genera worldwide
(2)(3)(4)
*Blissus 16 spp., Ischnodemus 12, Toonglasa 1, Wheelerodemus 1
Range
throughout NA; primarily tropical globally, with several centers of endemism on various continents;
Ischnodemus is the only subcosmopolitan genus (mostly tropical)
(2)Food
hosts: various monocots; blissids often live cryptically in leaf-sheaths (laminaphiles) and, unlike most lygaeoids, feed on vegetative parts
(2); our spp. on grasses
(7)