Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus Coreus, which derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning bug.
As a family, the Coreidae are cosmopolitan, but most of the species are tropical or subtropical.
Common names and significance The common names of the Coreidae vary regionally. Leaf-footed bug refers to leaf-like expansions on the legs of some species, generally on the hind tibiae. In North America, the pest status of species such as Anasa tristis on squash plants and other cucurbits gave rise to the name squash bugs. The Coreidae are called twig-wilters or tip-wilters in parts of Africa and Australia because many species feed on young twigs, injecting enzymes that macerate the tissues of the growing tips and cause them to wilt abruptly.
Morphology and appearance The Coreidae commonly are oval-shaped, with antennae composed of four segments, numerous veins in the membrane of the fore wings, and externally visible repugnatorial stink glands. They vary in size from 7 to 45 mm long, which implies that the family includes some of the biggest species of Heteroptera. The body shape is quite variable; some species are broadly oval, others are elongated with parallel sides, and a few are slender. Many species with the "leaf-footed" tibiae are very slender with conspicuous expansions of the hind tibiae, but some robust species also have decided expansions. Some species are covered with spines and tubercles. As an example of these, the tribe Phyllomorphini Mulsant & Rey, 1870, are strikingly aberrant, with thin legs, spiny bristles, and laciniate outlines and adornments.
Many of the more robust species have grossly enlarged, thickened, and bowed hind femora armed with spikes on the inner edge, and with hind tibiae to match, though the enlargement of the tibiae is less exaggerated.
In the nymphs, the openings of the two repugnatorial stink glands of the Coreidae are visible as two projections or spots on the medial line of the dorsal surface of the abdomen, one at the anterior and one at the posterior edge of the fifth abdominal tergite above the glands inside. During the final ecdysis, the anatomy is rearranged and the glands end up in the metathorax, opening laterally through ostioles between the mesothoracic and metathoracic pleura.Beard, Raimon L. The Biology of Anasa tristis DeGeer. Bulletin 440. Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven 1940
Biology and habits The Coreidae generally feed on the sap of plants. Some species reportedly are actively carnivorous,Comstock, J. H. An Introduction to Entomology, Comstock Publishing. 1949. May be downloaded from: but material evidence is lacking, and in the field, some are easy to confuse with some species of the Reduviidae, so doubt has been cast on the veracity of the claims.University of Kentucky Entomology/Kentucky Critter Files/Kentucky Insects/True Bugs/Leaf-footed Bugs
Some Coreidae, such as Phyllomorpha laciniata, exhibit parental care by carrying their eggs. This behaviour significantly improves the eggs' chances of avoiding the attacks of parasitoids.
Taxonomy and systematics The Coreidae are placed in the order Hemiptera and closely related to the families Alydidae, Hyocephalidae, Rhopalidae, and Stenocephalidae. Together, these five families form the superfamily Coreoidea. The family is large, with more than 1,900 species in over 270 genera.
Most taxonomists dealing with the Coreidae divide the family into three or four subfamilies. Numerous tribes of the Coreinae have previously been proposed for elevation to subfamily rank, for example, the Agriopocorini, Colpurini, Phyllomorphini, and Procamptini, but the only one of these changes that at least a significant minority of researchers accepted is the elevation of the Agriopocorinae, and more recent reviews tend to treat them as a tribe again, recognizing only the three subfamilies known by 1867 plus Hydarinae.
The family has been demonstrated to be non-monophyletic, as Hydarinae and Pseudophloeinae are more closely related to Alydidae than to other coreids.
Selected genera
The following genera are included in the family Coreidae:
Coreinae Leach, 1815
Acanthocephala Laporte, 1833 Acanthocerus Palisot, 1818 Acanthocoris Amyot & Serville, 1843 Agathyrna Stål, 1861 Althos Kirkaldy, 1904 Anasa Amyot & Serville, 1843 Anisoscelis Latreille, 1829 Anoplocnemis Stål, 1873 Aurelianus Distant, 1902 Brachytes Westwood, 1842 Canungrantmictis Brailovsky, 2002 Carlisis Stål, 1858 Catorhintha Stål, 1859 Centrocoris Kolenati, 1845 Ceratopachys Westwood, 1842 Cercinthus Stål, 1860 Chariesterus Laporte, 1833 Chelinidea Uhler, 1863 Cimolus Stål, 1862 Coreus Leach, 1815 Dalader Amyot & Serville, 1843 Elasmopoda Stål, 1873 Enoplops Amyot & Serville, 1843 Eubule Stål, 1868 Euthochtha Mayr, 1865 Fracastorius Distant, 1902 Gelonus Stål, 1866 Gonocerus Berthold, 1827 Helcomeria Stål, 1873 Himella Dallas, 1852 Holhymenia Lepeletier & Serville, 1825 Homoeocerus Burmeister, 1835 Hygia Uhler, 1861 Hypselonotus Hahn, 1833 Leptoglossus Guérin-Méneville, 1831 – conifer seed bugs Mamurius Stål, 1862 Menenotus Laporte, 1832 Mictis Leach, 1814 Molipteryx Kiritshenko, 1916 Mozena Amyot & Serville, 1843 Namacus Amyot & Serville, 1843 Narnia Stål, 1862 Neaira Linnavuori, 1973 Nematopus Berthold, 1827 Nisoscolopocerus Barber, 1928 Oannes Distant, 1911 Pachylis Le Peletier & Serville, 1825 Phyllomorpha Laporte 1833 Physomerus Burmeister, 1835 Piezogaster Amyot & Serville, 1843 Plectropoda Bergroth, 1894 Pomponatius Distant, 1904 Prionolomia Stål, 1873 Pseudotheraptus Brown, 1955 Sagotylus Mayr, 1865 Savius Stål, 1862 Scolopocerus Uhler, 1875 Sephina Amyot & Serville, 1843 Sethenira Spinola, 1837 Spartocera Laporte, 1833 Spathocera Stein, 1860 Syromastus Berthold, 1827 Thasus Stål, 1865 Vazquezitocoris Brailovsky, 1990 Villasitocoris Brailovsky, 1990 Wolfius Distant, 1902 Zicca Amyot & Serville, 1843
Hydarinae Stål, 1873 Madura Stål, 1860
Meropachyinae Stål, 1867 Merocoris Perty, 1833
Pseudophloeinae Stål, 1867 Arenocoris Hahn, 1834 Bathysolen Fieber, 1860 Bothrostethus Fieber 1860 Ceraleptus Costa, 1847 Clavigralla Spinola, 1837 Coriomeris Westwood, 1842 Nemocoris Sahlberg, 1848 Ulmicola Kirkaldy, 1909
Gallery
References
External links
Coreidae of Britain Coreidae of Florida Comparative description of the immature stages of two very similar leaf footed bugs, Holymenia clavigera (Herbst) and Anisoscelis foliacea marginella (Dallas) (Hemiptera, Coreidae, Anisoscelini) Coreidae (Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha) Chelinidea vittiger aequoris, a cactus bug, Euthochtha galeator Leptoscelis tricolor, heliconia bug Leptoglossus phyllopus Spartocera batatas, giant sweetpotato bug