Lyctocoridae

Lyctocoridae
	Lyctocoris dimidiatus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Suborder:	Heteroptera
Superfamily:	Cimicoidea
Family:	Lyctocoridae; Reuter, 1884

Lyctocoridae is a reconstituted family of bugs, formerly classified within the minute pirate bugs of the family Anthocoridae.^[1] It is widely distributed, with one species (Lyctocoris campestris), being cosmopolitan.^[2]^[3]

Description

Lyctocoridae range in length from 2 mm to 6 mm. They have tarsi 3-segmented, forewing with a costal fracture and with weakly developed veins in the membrane, laterotergites on all abdominal terga, and male genitalia strongly asymmetrical (left paramere larger than the right).^[2]

Overall they resemble the related family Anthocoridae, but can be distinguished by:

In males, the left paramere is flat, with a single-sheet form, and without a median sulcus. The phallus is tubular and well visible, with ductus seminis striated transversely and extended apically by a needle-shaped acus.^[4]
In females, there are genital apophyses in the anterior region of abdominal sternum 7.^[4]

Diet

Lyctocoridae are mostly predators of small, soft-bodied arthropods, though L. campestris occasionally feeds on mammal (including human) blood^[2]^[3] and L. ichikawai is only known to feed on sap of sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima).^[5] Adults and nymphs have similar diets.^[4]

Habitat

This family of bugs occurs under tree bark and in decaying plant matter, animal nests and burrows, manure piles, poultry houses, granaries and stored food products.^[2]^[3]

Reproduction

Lyctocoridae practice traumatic insemination in which the male pierces the female (using the acus of his phallus) between terga 7 and 8 on the right side of her abdomen. The male's sperm migrate through the haemocoel or through specialized structures in the female to the ovaries, then fertilise the eggs within the vitellarium.^[3]

Biological control

Some species of Lyctocoridae are biological control agents that feed on pest insects. Lyctocoris attack beetle and moth pests in stored food products, and also attack bark beetle pests.^[3]

Systematics

Recent phylogenetic work supports the treatment of Lyctocoridae as a family separate from Anthocoridae,^[1] but more recent molecular phylogenies indicate that many lineages considered at one point to be constituents are still better placed in Anthocoridae (e.g, Dufouriellini;^[6]), leaving only a few genera in Lyctocoridae.

Genera

BioLib lists a single subfamily Lyctocorinae Reuter, 1884:

Lyctocoris Hahn, 1836 (in monotypic tribe Lyctocorini Reuter, 1884)
Astemmocoris Carayon & Usinger, 1965

Placed in Anthocoridae

The following are placed in the Anthocorinae tribes Anthocorini, Dufouriellini, and Scolopini:

Alofa Herring, 1976
Amphiareus Distant, 1904
Brachysteles Mulsant & Rey, 1852
Buchananiella Reuter, 1884
Calliodis Reuter, 1871
Cardiastethus Fieber, 1860
Dufouriellus Kirkaldy, 1906
Dysepicritus Reuter, 1885
Nidicola Harris and Drake, 1941
Orthosoleniopsis Poppius, 1909
Physopleurella Reuter, 1884
Scoloposcelis Fieber, 1864
Solenonotus Reuter, 1871
Xylocoridea Reuter, 1876
Xyloecocoris Reuter, 1879

References

^ ^a ^b Schuh, Randall T.; Weirauch, Christiane; Wheeler, Ward C. (2009). "Phylogenetic relationships within the Cimicomorpha (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): a total-evidence analysis". Systematic Entomology. 34 (1): 15–48. Bibcode:2009SysEn..34...15S. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.498.8756. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3113.2008.00436.x. ISSN 1365-3113. S2CID 85422423.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Schuh, R. T.; Slater, J. A. (1995). True bugs of the world (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) : classification and natural history. New York, USA: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-2066-0. OCLC 31132787.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Horton, D. R. (2008). "Minute Pirate Bugs (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae)". In Capinera (ed.). Encyclopedia of Entomology (J. L. ed.). Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 2402–2412. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-6359-6_4633. ISBN 978-1-4020-6242-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c Carpintero, Diego L. (2015), Panizzi, Antônio R.; Grazia, Jocélia (eds.), "Minute Pirate Bugs (Anthocoridae and Lyctocoridae)", True Bugs (Heteroptera) of the Neotropics, Entomology in Focus, vol. 2, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 217–236, doi:10.1007/978-94-017-9861-7_9, ISBN 978-94-017-9860-0, retrieved 2022-09-09
^ Yamada, Kazutaka; Yasunaga, Tomohide; Ichikawa, Toshihide (2012-10-24). "A new species of Lyctocoridae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicoidea) feeding on the exuded sap of Sawtooth Oak, Quercus acutissima, in Japan". Zootaxa. 3525 (1): 65. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3525.1.5. ISSN 1175-5334.
^ Zhang D, Xu L, Wang S, Liang J, Li M, Zhang H. The first complete mitochondrial genome of Dufouriellini (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) and implications for its phylogenetic position. Arch Insect Biochem Physiol. 2022 Sep;111(1):e21885. doi: 10.1002/arch.21885. Epub 2022 Mar 20. PMID: 35312097.