Ectrichodiinae

Ectrichodiinae
An unidentified ectrichodine preying on a millipede
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Family: Reduviidae
Subfamily: Ectrichodiinae
Amyot and Serville, 1843
Tribes
  • Abelocephalini Forthman and Weirauch, 2017
  • Ectrichodiini Amyot and Serville, 1843
  • Tribelocephalini Stål, 1862
  • Tribelocodiini Forthman and Weirauch, 2017
  • Xenocaucini Maldonado, 1996

The Ectrichodiinae are a subfamily of assassin bugs (Reduviidae) known for specializing on millipedes as prey.[1] The group comprises more than 600 species in about 115 genera,[2] making it a fairly large subfamily. The bugs are also known for their aposematic coloration, often brightly colored metallic blue, red, or yellow.

Species of this subfamily hide under leaf litter and sometimes boulders and hunt at night.[3]

Females have wing reduction and or/ extreme sexual dimorphism.[4]

  1. ^ Heteropteran Systematics Lab @ UCR. "Unlikely relationships: Ectrichodiinae + Tribelocephalinae". Archived from the original on July 17, 2010. Retrieved Jan 14, 2010.
  2. ^ (Maldonado 1990),
  3. ^ Christiane Weirauch; Wolfgang Rabitsch; David Redei. "Austrokatanga, gen. nov., new genus of Ectrichodiinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) from Australia" (PDF). Zootaxa 2094: 1–15 (2009).
  4. ^ FORTHMAN, MICHAEL; WEIRAUCH, CHRISTIANE (2017-06-06). "Millipede assassins and allies (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Ectrichodiinae, Tribelocephalinae): total evidence phylogeny, revised classification and evolution of sexual dimorphism". Systematic Entomology. 42 (3): 575–595. doi:10.1111/syen.12232. ISSN 0307-6970.