British Insects: the Families of Hemiptera
| British Insects: the Families of Hemiptera | |
Nabididae.
Damsel Bugs.
Salient features of adults. Terrestrial.
Predacious (aggressive, holding prey with the fore-legs). Small to large; 5.5–10 mm long; fliers; probably emitting repugnatorial liquid as a defence reaction; with narrow-elongate bodies; conspicuously stilt-legged. Rostrum clearly separated ventrally from the prosternum by a sclerotized gula; 4 segmented (long and slender). Antennae longer than the head, readily visible from above; 4 segmented, or 5 segmented; non-aristate. Ocelli present. 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; differentiated into a basally thickened and a distally membranous region; with a costal fracture and cuneus; with a clavus. Fore-legs modified and raptorial to non-raptorial. Hind coxae mobile; rotatory. Tarsi 3 segmented. Claws all apical. Pulvilli absent. The abdomen without ventral silvery pubescence.
Comments. Soft-bodied; by contrast with Reduviidae, the prosternum lacks a stridulatory groove; the fore-legs less obviously raptorial in form, and the curved rostrum is longer.
Taxonomy. Suborder Heteroptera; Cimicoidea.
British representation. Genera 6; 13 species.
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’.