Emesinae

Thread-legged bugs
Ploiaria domestica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Family: Reduviidae
Subfamily: Emesinae
Amyot and Serville, 1843
Tribes

Collartidini
Leistarchini
Emesini
Ploiariolini
Deliastini
Metapterini

The Emesinae, or thread-legged bugs, are a subfamily of the Reduviidae (i.e., assassin bugs). They are conspicuously different from the other reduviids by their very slender body form. They are stalking, predatory insects that can be collected on palm fronds, cliffs, spider webbing, or near lights at night (many can be collected by blacklight). They walk on their mid and hind legs; the front pair is raptorial. Some groups specialize on spiders. Very little is known about emesines except that many species are found in the tropics. Pedro Wygodzinsky wrote the most recent revision of this group.[1]

  1. ^ Wygodzinsky, Pedro W. (1966). "A monograph of the Emesinae (Reduviidae, Hemiptera)". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History ; v. 133. hdl:2246/1675.