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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pentatomomorpha » Pyrrhocoroidea » Red Bugs (Pyrrhocoridae)

Family Pyrrhocoridae - Red Bugs

Nymphs on host - Dysdercus suturellus Lygaeid bug - Scantius aegyptius Another Coreoidea? - Dysdercus suturellus dying aphids on hibiscus in Florida - Dysdercus St. Andrew's Cotton Stainer - nymphs - Dysdercus andreae Pyrrhocoris apterus - Firebug - Pyrrhocoris apterus Male, Dysdercus bimaculatus? - male Scantius aegyptius - Mediterranean Red Bug? - Scantius aegyptius
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 Pyrrhocoroidea
Family Pyrrhocoridae (Red Bugs)
Other Common Names
Stainers
Numbers
10 spp. in 3 genera in our area (incl. two recently introduced w. Palaearctic spp.)(1), >400 spp. in ~65 genera worldwide(2) OR 340 spp. in ~33 genera worldwide(3)
Size
8-18 mm(1), up to 30 mm elsewhere(2)
Identification
resemble some members of Lygaeidae, but lack ocelli and have more veins in the forewing membrane; most are colored black and red(4)
Range
worldwide, most diverse in the tropics and subtropics, with only a few species in the temperate regions(2); in our area, more common in the south(1)
Habitat
most spp. are found on low plants; a few Old World spp. are ground-dwelling and thought to feed on fallen mature seeds(2)
Food
primarily granivorous or fructivorous(2)
Remarks
Dysdercus suturellus (Cotton Stainer) is a pest of cotton
See Also
Largidae, Lygaeidae
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Zoological catalogue of Australia: Hemiptera: Heteroptera (Pentatomomorpha)
Cassis G., Gross G.F. 2002. CSIRO Publishing, 751 pp.
3.Biodiversity of the Heteroptera
Henry T.J. 2009. In: Foottit R.G., Adler P.H., eds. Insect biodiversity: Science and society. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell: 223−263.
4.A Field Guide to Insects
Richard E. White, Donald J. Borror, Roger Tory Peterson. 1998. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Contributed by Stephen_WV on 6 November, 2004 - 7:08am
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, v belov
Last updated 13 April, 2012 - 4:58am

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