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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pentatomomorpha » Lygaeoidea » Seed Bugs (Lygaeidae) » Lygaeinae » Oncopeltus

Genus Oncopeltus

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Range · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Large Milkweed Bug Nymphs - Oncopeltus fasciatus

Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus cingulifer

Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus

Large milkweed bug and nymphs - Oncopeltus fasciatus

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 Lygaeoidea

Family Lygaeidae (Seed Bugs)

Subfamily Lygaeinae

Genus Oncopeltus

Explanation of Names

Oncopeltus Stål, 1868

Numbers

2 subgenera, with 7-8 spp. in our area;(1)(2)[cite:] 19 spp. in the New World;(3) and 42 spp. total(2)

Oncopeltus (Erythrischius)

1. Oncopeltus aulicus: FL

2. Oncopeltus cingulifer: FL, s. TX

3. Oncopeltus fasciatus: widespread transcontinental

4. Oncopeltus sandarachatus: (?) s. CA, s. FL

Oncopeltus (Oncopeltus)

5. Oncopeltus cayensis: FL

6. Oncopeltus guttaloides: AZ, s.CA, s.TX

7. Oncopeltus sanguineolentus: w. AZ, s. CA, & s. NV

8. Oncopeltus sexmaculatus: TX

Size

8-16 mm(3)

Range

pantropical genus, ranging into US (O. fasciatus also into ON); in our area much more diverse in the deep south(3)

Food

They feed primarily on species of milkweeds.

Salivary glands contain a catechol oxidase and peroxidase which counter the effects of plant products designed to inhibit feeding.(4)

Life Cycle

General life cycle and care information here.

Molting is induced by the stretching of the abdomen that happens over a prolonged period of feeding.(4)

Remarks

more communal than Lygaeus, particularly in the nymphal stage

Internet References

Milkweed Bug Genome Project

Wikipedia

Works Cited

1.	Nomina Insecta Nearctica Poole, Robert W. Nearctica.com, Inc.

2.	The Lygaeidae of Florida (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae). Slater & Baranowski. 1990. Florida Dept. of Ag. and Consumer Services, Gainesville. xv + 211 pp.

3.	A Genus Level Revision of Western Hemisphere Lygaeinae (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) with Keys to Species Alex Slater. 1992. University of Kansas Science Bulletin.

4.	The Insects : Structure and Function R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.

Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn, v belov, Harsi S. Parker, Marci Hess, Tyler Hedlund, PaleoJon
Last updated 26 December, 2024 - 9:55pm

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