thumb|thumbtime=80|A female [[Acanthocephala terminalis|leaf-footed bug, family Coreidae and tribe Acanthocephalini, deposits an egg before flying off.]]

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.

Biology and habits

The Coreidae generally feed on the sap of plants. Some species reportedly are actively carnivorous, 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 <!-- or significance --> of the claims.

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 <small>Leach, 1815</small>

  • Acanthocephala <small>Laporte, 1833</small>
  • Acanthocerus <small> Palisot, 1818</small>
  • Acanthocoris <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Agathyrna <small>Stål, 1861</small>
  • Althos <small>Kirkaldy, 1904</small>
  • Anasa <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Anisoscelis <small>Latreille, 1829</small>
  • Anoplocnemis <small>Stål, 1873</small>
  • Aurelianus <small>Distant, 1902</small>
  • Brachytes <small>Westwood, 1842</small>
  • Canungrantmictis <small>Brailovsky, 2002</small>
  • Carlisis <small>Stål, 1858</small>
  • Catorhintha <small>Stål, 1859</small>
  • Centrocoris <small>Kolenati, 1845</small>
  • Ceratopachys <small>Westwood, 1842</small>
  • Cercinthus <small>Stål, 1860</small>
  • Chariesterus <small>Laporte, 1833</small>
  • Chelinidea <small>Uhler, 1863</small>
  • Cimolus <small>Stål, 1862</small>
  • Coreus <small>Leach, 1815</small>
  • Dalader <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Elasmopoda <small> Stål, 1873</small>
  • Enoplops <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Eubule <small>Stål, 1868</small>
  • Euthochtha <small> Mayr, 1865</small>
  • Fracastorius <small>Distant, 1902</small>
  • Gelonus <small>Stål, 1866</small>
  • Gonocerus <small>Berthold, 1827</small>
  • Helcomeria <small>Stål, 1873</small>
  • Himella <small>Dallas, 1852</small>
  • Holhymenia <small>Lepeletier & Serville, 1825</small>
  • Homoeocerus <small>Burmeister, 1835</small>
  • Hygia <small>Uhler, 1861</small>
  • Hypselonotus <small>Hahn, 1833</small>
  • Leptoglossus <small>Guérin-Méneville, 1831</small> – conifer seed bugs
  • Mamurius <small>Stål, 1862</small>
  • Menenotus <small>Laporte, 1832</small>
  • Mictis <small>Leach, 1814</small>
  • Molipteryx <small>Kiritshenko, 1916</small>
  • Mozena <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Namacus <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Narnia <small>Stål, 1862</small>
  • Neaira <small>Linnavuori, 1973</small>
  • Nematopus <small>Berthold, 1827</small>
  • Nisoscolopocerus <small>Barber, 1928</small>
  • Oannes <small>Distant, 1911</small>
  • Pachylis <small>Le Peletier & Serville, 1825</small>
  • Phyllomorpha <small> Laporte 1833 </small>
  • Physomerus <small>Burmeister, 1835</small>
  • Piezogaster <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Plectropoda <small>Bergroth, 1894 </small>
  • Pomponatius <small>Distant, 1904</small>
  • Prionolomia <small>Stål, 1873</small>
  • Pseudotheraptus <small>Brown, 1955</small>
  • Sagotylus <small>Mayr, 1865</small>
  • Savius <small>Stål, 1862</small>
  • Scolopocerus <small>Uhler, 1875</small>
  • Sephina <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>
  • Sethenira <small>Spinola, 1837</small>
  • Spartocera <small> Laporte, 1833</small>
  • Spathocera <small>Stein, 1860</small>
  • Syromastus <small>Berthold, 1827</small>
  • Thasus <small>Stål, 1865</small>
  • Vazquezitocoris <small>Brailovsky, 1990</small>
  • Villasitocoris <small>Brailovsky, 1990</small>
  • Wolfius <small>Distant, 1902</small>
  • Zicca <small>Amyot & Serville, 1843</small>

Hydarinae <small>Stål, 1873</small>

  • Madura <small>Stål, 1860</small>

Meropachyinae <small>Stål, 1867</small>

  • Merocoris <small>Perty, 1833</small>

Pseudophloeinae <small>Stål, 1867</small>

  • Arenocoris <small>Hahn, 1834</small>
  • Bathysolen <small>Fieber, 1860</small>
  • Bothrostethus <small>Fieber 1860</small>
  • Ceraleptus <small>Costa, 1847</small>
  • Clavigralla <small>Spinola, 1837</small>
  • Coriomeris <small>Westwood, 1842</small>
  • Nemocoris <small>Sahlberg, 1848</small>
  • Ulmicola <small>Kirkaldy, 1909</small>

<gallery>

File:Leptoscelis quadrisignatus (03442).jpg|Leptoscelis quadrisignatus

File:Squash bug Coreidae hz.jpg|Feeding "twig-wilter" nymph

File:Anasa tristis eggs.jpg|Anasa tristis (squash bug) eggs

File:Pephricus Coreidae IMG 3401.JPG|Pephricus sp., of the tribe Phyllomorphini

File:DirkvdM aerobics-insect.jpg|A "leaf-footed" coreid (Anisoscelis flavolineata) with typical expanded hind legs

File:Acanthocephala terminalis.JPG|Acanthocephala terminalis

File:Coreidae Unidentified Holopterna IMG 6559s.JPG|Typical pattern of wing venation

File:Piezogaster mating.jpg|Piezogaster sp. mating

File:Coreid bugs (Euthochtha galeator) laying eggs.jpg|Laying eggs

File:Leaf footed bug pair.webm|Two leaf-footed bugs interact.

File:Insect world of motion.webm|Leaf-footed bug climbs wind blown grass and flies off.

</gallery>

References

  • 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