The Peloridiidae or moss bugs are a

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 ...

true bugs Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to aroun ...

, comprising eighteen genera and thirty-four species. They are small, ranging in length from 2 to 4 mm, rarely seen, peculiarly lumpy, flattened bugs found in

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and g ...

(

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Lord Howe Island Lord Howe Island (; formerly Lord Howe's Island) is an irregularly crescent-shaped volcanic remnant in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, part of the Australian state of New South Wales. It lies directly east of mainland P ...

, and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. Peloridiids are found amongst mosses and liverworts, commonly in association with

southern beech ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere in southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and Australasia (east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Gui ...

forests. They have become known as moss bugs for their habit of feeding on mosses. Almost all Peloridiidae species are flightless, except one (''

Peloridium hammoniorum ''Peloridium hammoniorum'' is a species of moss bug from southern South America, and is the only known species in the genus ''Peloridium''. It was first described in 1897 by Gustav Breddin from a specimen found at Puerto Toro on Navarin Isla ...

''). Their present distribution suggests they have existed since before the breakup of

Gondwana Gondwana () was a large landmass, often referred to as a supercontinent, that formed during the late Neoproterozoic (about 550 million years ago) and began to break up during the Jurassic period (about 180 million years ago). The final stages ...

. They are the only living members of the suborder

Coleorrhyncha Coleorrhyncha or Peloridiomorpha, also known as moss bugs or beetle bugs, are a suborder of Hemiptera and represent an ancient lineage of moss-feeding insects. They show some similarities to the Heteroptera but have been considered distinct. It ha ...

, which first appeared in the Upper Permian, over 250 million years ago.

Evolution

Peloridiidae are the only extant family in the suborder

. Historically the Peloridiidae and their fossil kin were assigned to a variety of orders. In 1929 they were placed in the

Homoptera Homoptera is a suborder of order Hemiptera that is considered by some taxonomists to be paraphyletic, and therefore deprecated (obsolete). It was therefore split into the suborders Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, and Coleorrhyncha. The earlier w ...

, in 1962 they were placed in the

Auchenorrhyncha The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the ot ...

, in 1963 they were placed in the

Cicadomorpha Cicadomorpha is an infraorder of the insect order Hemiptera which contains the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, and spittlebugs. There are approximately 35,000 described species worldwide. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are p ...

, and in 1997 they were placed in Fulgoromorpha. However, essentially all sources since 1969 are in consensus that the Peloridiidae belong in Coleorrhyncha and that Coleorrhyncha is a sister group to the Heteroptera. The question remains whether this affinity between the Coleorrhyncha and the Heteroptera necessitates the imposition of a suborder between them and the order

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...

. In 1995 Sorensen proposed the name

Prosorrhyncha The name Prosorrhyncha is a name (proposed by Sorensen et al. 1995) for a suborder of Hemiptera, comprising a grouping of the traditional taxon "Heteroptera" plus its sister taxon, the family Peloridiidae (often classified as a suborder itself). T ...

for such a suborder. (See the Heteroptera and

pages for a discussion). The oldest members of Coleorrhyncha are known from the

Upper Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

, over 250 million years ago, assigned to the family

Progonocimicidae The Progonocimicidae are an extinct family of true bugs in the suborder Coleorrhyncha. Progonocimicidae fossils have been found in Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. Families preserved in the fossil record of Coleorrhyncha include the e ...

. It is likely that Progonocimicidae is

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

, with other families of Coleorrhyncha derived from it. The closest relatives of Peloridiidae are the Hoploridiidae from the Early Cretaceous of Asia.

Genera

* ''

Craspedophysa ''Craspedophysa monteithi'' is a moss bug, the only confirmed, extant species in the genus ''Craspedophysa''. ''Craspedophysa monteithi'' is found in northern Queensland, Australia. It lacks the ancestral cephalic areolae The human areol ...

'' Burckhardt, 2009 * '' Hackeriella'' Evans, 1972 * '' Hemiodoecellus'' Evans, 1959 * '' Hemiodoecus'' China, 1924 * '' Hemiowoodwardia'' Evans, 1972 * '' Howeria'' Evans, 1959 * '' Idophysa'' Burckhardt, 2009 * '' Kuscheloides'' Evans, 1982 * '' Oiophysa'' Drake & Salmon, 1950 * '' Oiophysella'' Evans, 1982 * '' Pantinia'' China, 1962 * '' Peloridium'' Breddin, 1897 * '' Peloridora'' China, 1955 * '' Peltophysa'' Burckhardt, 2009 * '' Rhacophysa'' Burckhardt, 2009 * '' Xenophyes'' Bergroth, 1924 * '' Xenophysella'' Evans, 1982

Notes

References

External links

* Images of ''Peloridium hammoniorum'' http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Andre.Mursch/14.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q138276 Coleorrhyncha Hemiptera families Extant Permian first appearances

Evolution

Genera

Notes

References

Other reading

External links