Himacerus apterus Weibchen Nordufer Wedding 070708 (1)

The

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Nabidae contains the damsel bugs. There are over 500 species in 20 genera. They are soft-bodied, elongate, winged terrestrial predators. Many damsel bugs catch and hold prey with their forelegs, similar to

mantids Mantidae is one of the largest families in the order of praying mantises, based on the type species '' Mantis religiosa''; however, most genera are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the only family in the order, and many referen ...

. They are considered helpful species in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

because of their predation on many types of crop pests. Damsel bugs of the genus ''Nabis'' are the most common. They and other genera are most numerous in fields of

legumes A legume () is a plant in the family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seed of such a plant. When used as a dry grain, the seed is also called a pulse. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consumption, for livestock fo ...

such as

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

, but they can be found in many other crops and in non-cultivated areas. They are yellow to tan in color and have large, bulbous eyes and stiltlike legs. They are generalist predators, catching almost any insect smaller than themselves, and cannibalizing each other when no other food is available. Several species have bitten humans.Faúndez, E. I. & M. A. Carvajal. 2011. A human case of bitting by Nabis punctipennis (Hemíptera: Heteroptera: Nabidae) in Chile. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae, 51(2): 407-409. Members of the subfamily Prostemmatinae reproduce by

traumatic insemination Traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination, is the mating practice in some species of invertebrates in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his aedeagus and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal c ...

Genera

These 23 genera belong to the family Nabidae: * '' Alloeorhynchus'' Fieber, 1860^{i c g b} * '' Alloeorrhynchus''^{c g} * '' Anaptus'' Kerzhner, 1968^{i c g} * '' Arachnocoris'' Scott, 1881^g * '' Arbela'' Stål, 1865^g * '' Carthasis'' Champion, 1900^{i c g b} * '' Gorpis'' Stål, 1859^g * '' Himacerus'' Wolff, 1811^{i c g b} * ''

Hoplistoscelis ''Hoplistoscelis'' is a genus of damsel bugs in the family Nabidae The insect family Nabidae contains the damsel bugs. There are over 500 species in 20 genera. They are soft-bodied, elongate, winged terrestrial predators. Many damsel bugs c ...

'' Reuter, 1890^{i c g b} * '' Karanabis'' Bekker-Migdisova, 1963^g * '' Lasiomerus'' Reuter, 1890^{i c g b} * '' Metatropiphorus'' Reuter, 1872^{i c g b} * '' Nabicula'' Kirby, 1837^{i c g} * ''

Nabis Nabis ( grc-gre, Νάβις) was the last king of independent Sparta. He was probably a member of the Heracleidae, and he ruled from 207 BC to 192 BC, during the years of the First and Second Macedonian Wars and the eponymous "War against Nabis" ...

'' Latreille, 1802^{i c g b} * '' Omanonabis'' Asquith and Lattin, 1991^{i c g} * ''

Pagasa Pagasa may refer to: * ''Pagasa'' (genus), an insect genus in the family Nabidae * PAGASA, an acronym for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration *"May Pagasa", a pen-name of José Rizal José Prot ...

'' Stål, 1862^{i c g b} * ''

Phorticus ''Phorticus'' is a genus of damsel bugs in the family Nabidae The insect family Nabidae contains the damsel bugs. There are over 500 species in 20 genera. They are soft-bodied, elongate, winged terrestrial predators. Many damsel bugs catch ...

'' Stål, 1860^{i c g b} * '' Praecarthasis'' Kerzhner, 1986^g * '' Prostemma'' Laporte, 1832^g * '' Reduviolus'' Kirby, 1837^g * '' Rhamphocoris'' Kirkaldy, 1901^g * ''

Stalia ''Acridoxena'' is a monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the ...

'' * '' Stenonabis'' Reuter, 1890^g Data sources: i = ITIS, c = Catalogue of Life, g = GBIF, b = Bugguide.net

Evolutionary history

Several fossil genera have been attributed to the family, including '' Karanabis'' from the Upper Jurassic

Karabastau Formation The Karabastau Formation ( kk, Qarabastaý svıtasy) is a geological formation and lagerstätte in the Karatau Mountains of southern Kazakhstan whose strata date to the Middle to Late Jurassic. It is an important locality for insect fossils that ...

of Kazakhstan, but it has subsequently been assigned to other families. The earliest definitive record of the family is '' Cretanazgul'' from the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

aged

Burmese amber Burmese amber, also known as Burmite or Kachin amber, is amber from the Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar. The amber is dated to around 100 million years ago, during the latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian ages of the mid-Cretaceous period. The ...

of Myanmar, belonging to the subfamily Prostemmatinae.

References

External links

Damsel bugs of Britain

{{Authority control Insects used as insect pest control agents Heteroptera families Taxa named by Achille Costa