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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Pentatomomorpha » Leatherbugs (Coreoidea) » Scentless Plant Bugs (Rhopalidae)

Family Rhopalidae - Scentless Plant Bugs

Eastern Boxelder? - Boisea trivittata - male - female

Boisea trivittata - Eastern Boxelder Bug - Boisea trivittata

scentless plant bug - Harmostes fraterculus

Western Boxelder Bug - Boisea rubrolineata

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 Coreoidea (Leatherbugs)

Family Rhopalidae (Scentless Plant Bugs)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

'Corizidae'

Explanation of Names

Rhopalidae Amyot & Serville 1843

common name refers to the reduced scent gland opening(1)

Numbers

2 subfamilies, with ~40 spp. in 10 genera in our area(2) and >200 spp. in ~20 genera worldwide(1)

Overview of our fauna (classification follows (3))

Family Rhopalidae

Subfamily Rhopalinae

Tribe *Chorosomatini *Chorosoma (not yet in the guide; link to photos of an extralimital sp.)

Tribe Harmostini Aufeius · Harmostes

Tribe Niesthrini Arhyssus · Niesthrea

Tribe Rhopalini Liorhyssus · Brachycarenus · Stictopleurus

Subfamily Serinethinae Boisea · Jadera

Size

4‒15+ mm(1)

Identification

No scent glands; membrane with many veins(4)

Keys: eastern spp.(5) • Florida spp. and most NA genera(6)

Range

much of the world, incl. our area(3)

Food

seeds of herbaceous plants, but some are arboreal(7)(8)

Works Cited

1.	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.

2.	The first Chorosoma (Hemiptera: Rhopalidae: Rhopalinae: Chorosomatini) from the New World: Chorosoma josifovi nov. sp. Schwartz M.D., Schaefer C.W., Lattin J.D. 2008. pp. 339-348 in: Grozeva S., Simov N. (Eds) Advances in Heteroptera research... Pensoft Publishers, Sofia–Moscow.

3.	Livermore L.J.R., Lemaître V.A., Dolling W.R., Webb M.D. Coreoidea species file online. Version 5.0

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

5.	Rhopalus (Brachycarenus) tigrinus, recently established in North America, with a key to the genera and species of Rhopalidae... Hoebeke E.R., Wheeler A.G., Jr. 1982. Proc. Ent. Soc. Wash. 84: 213‒224.

6.	Steill J., Meyer J. (2003) The Rhopalidae of Florida

7.	Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn. 2004. Brooks Cole.

8.	Bugs of the World George C. McGavin. 1999. Blandford Press.

Contributed by Cotinis on 3 May, 2004 - 9:43am
Additional contributions by Robin McLeod, Boris Bueche, v belov
Last updated 25 April, 2024 - 5:31pm

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