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Genus Oncopeltus

Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus Large Milkweed Bug - Oncopeltus fasciatus Oncopeltus fasciatus? - Oncopeltus fasciatus Oncopeltus fasciatus Two different species ? - 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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