British Insects: the Families of Hemiptera
| British Insects: the Families of Hemiptera | |
Short-shield Bugs, Squash Bugs.
Salient features of adults. Terrestrial.
Phytophagous (especially on fruit or seeds). Small to large; 5–15 mm long; fliers, or non-fliers; usually emitting repugnatorial liquid as a defence reaction; relatively stout bodied; not stilt-legged; without conspicuous dark-and-pale banding of antennae and legs. Head non-linear. Rostrum clearly separated ventrally from the prosternum by a sclerotized gula; 4 segmented. Antennae from the upper part of the head; longer than the head, readily visible from above; 4 segmented; non-aristate. Ocelli present. Scutellum relatively small. Metathorax with a scent-gland opening, comprising a funnel surrounded by a dull patch of elaborately sculptured cuticle, visible laterally on either side. Fore-wings well developed to vestigial or absent; in the resting insect lying more or less flat over the abdomen; when macropterous, differentiated into a basally thickened and a distally membranous region; of macropters, with a clavus. Membrane of the hemelytron with numerous veins reaching or almost reaching the margin. Tarsi 2 segmented, or 3 segmented (usually?). Pulvilli present. The abdomen without ventral silvery pubescence. The second dorsal abdominal scent gland aperture not displaced into the fifth tergite, and distant from the first gland.
Comments. Brown in colour.
Taxonomy. Suborder Heteroptera; Coreoidea.
British representation. Genera 10; 12 species.
Illustrations: • Enoplops scapha (Sea-side Coreus: B. Ent. 174). • Enoplops scapha (detail: B. Ent. 174). • Enoplops scapha (dissections: B. Ent. 174). • Enoplops scapha (legend+text: B. Ent. 174). • Arenocoris fallenii (Lettered Coreus: B. Ent. 500). • Arenocoris fallenii (detail and dissections: B. Ent. 500). • Arenocoris fallenii (legend+text: B. Ent. 500). • Arenocoris fallenii (text: B. Ent. 500, cont.).
The interactive key offers full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. British insects: the families of Hemiptera. Version: 9th April 2007. http://delta-intkey.com’.
