''Ploiaria'' is a

cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

genus of thread-legged bugs (Emesinae). There are presently about 130 described species.

Description

''Ploiaria'' can be recognised by the head without ventral spine-like setae, the medially emarginated posterior margin of the

prosternum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

, the posterior pronotal lobe covering only the extreme base of the mesonotum, the scutellum and

metanotum The metathorax is the posterior of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the third pair of legs. Its principal sclerites ( exoskeletal plates) are the metanotum (dorsal), the metasternum (ventral), and the metapleuron (lateral) ...

lacking spines, the profemora lacking a process with several spine-like setae, and three-segmented protarsi. There is great variation in wing development between different species and within species, with macroptery (developed wings), brachyptery (reduced wings) and aptery (winglessness) all occurring in the genus.

Habitat

These bugs live in various habitats ranging from tropical forests to deserts and even oceanic islands (presumably reached by rafting on tree trunks). Their microhabitat range includes trees, epiphytes, leaf litter, under bark and under stones. The species ''P. chilensis'' and ''P. domestica'' are

synanthropes A synanthrope (from the Greek σύν ''syn'', "together with" + ἄνθρωπος ''anthropos'', "man") is a member of a species of wild animal or plant that lives near, and benefits from, an association with human beings and the somewhat artific ...

, meaning they are associated with human habitats.

Diet

''Ploiaria'', like other emesines, are

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

. They have been recorded feeding on prey such as '' Phlebotomus'' flies, mosquitoes and planthoppers.

Selected species

This list contains all species of ''Ploiaria'' currently considered valid, except for a few that have been described very recently: * '' Ploiaria abrupta'' Noualhier, 1895 * '' Ploiaria albipennis'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria alexanderi'' Wygodzinsky, 1954 * '' Ploiaria anak'' Distant, 1909 * '' Ploiaria antipoda'' Bergroth, 1927 * '' Ploiaria apicata'' McAtee & Malloch, 1926 * '' Ploiaria aptera'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria armstrongi'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria assimilata'' Van Duzee, 1935 * '' Ploiaria bakeri'' McAtee & Malloch, 1926 * '' Ploiaria basilewskyi'' Villiers, 1961 * '' Ploiaria bequaerti'' Wygodzinsky, 1953 * '' Ploiaria berlandi'' Villiers, 1943 * '' Ploiaria biroi'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria borbonica'' Villiers, 1971 * '' Ploiaria brincki'' Wygodzinsky, 1958 * '' Ploiaria brunnea'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria buscki'' Wygodzinsky, 1925 * '' Ploiaria californiensis'' Baker, 1910 * '' Ploiaria capeneri'' Wygodzinsky, 1952 * '' Ploiaria capensis'' Villiers, 1949 * '' Ploiaria carolina'' (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850) * '' Ploiaria carvalhoi'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria chilensis'' (Philippi, 1862) * '' Ploiaria circe'' (Kirkaldy, 1908) * '' Ploiaria concolor'' (Dohrn, 1860) * '' Ploiaria congoana'' (Villiers, 1949) * '' Ploiaria cunnamulla'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria darlingtoni'' Wygodzinsky, 1954 * '' Ploiaria decorata'' Villiers, 1950 * '' Ploiaria denieri'' Wygodzinsky, 1954 * '' Ploiaria denticauda'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria disponsi'' Linnavuori, 1965 * '' Ploiaria djurdjurana'' Dispons, 1951 * '' Ploiaria domestica'' Scopoli, 1786 * '' Ploiaria elegantula'' Villiers, 1952 * '' Ploiaria ellenbergeri'' Villiers, 1948 * '' Ploiaria fairmairei'' (Dohrn, 1860) * '' Ploiaria floridana'' (Bergroth, 1922) * '' Ploiaria funebris'' (Bergroth, 1906) * '' Ploiaria gabonensis'' (Villiers, 1948) * '' Ploiaria geijskesi'' Wygodzinsky, 1945 * '' Ploiaria geniculata'' (Stål, 1874) * '' Ploiaria glabella'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria gracilipes'' Villiers, 1973 * '' Ploiaria granulata'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria greeni'' Distant, 1903 * '' Ploiaria guadeloupensis'' Villiers, 1978 * '' Ploiaria gundlachi'' (Dohrn, 1860) * '' Ploiaria guttata'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria gutturalis'' Noualhier, 1895 * '' Ploiaria hainana'' Hsiao, 1965 * '' Ploiaria halosydne'' Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960 * '' Ploiaria hewitti'' China, 1925 * '' Ploiaria hirticornis'' (N.Banks, 1909) * '' Ploiaria icela'' Wygodzinsky, 1958 * '' Ploiaria insolida'' White, 1877 * '' Ploiaria isadas'' (Kirkaldy, 1901) * '' Ploiaria jimmiwum'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria katznelsoni'' (Dispons, 1964) * '' Ploiaria kocheri'' Dispons, 1963 * '' Ploiaria lestoni'' (Villiers, 1967) * '' Ploiaria longa'' Maldonado, 1972 * '' Ploiaria longiventris'' (Dohrn, 1863) * '' Ploiaria maai'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria macrophthalma'' (Dohrn, 1860) * '' Ploiaria maria'' Maldonado, 1948 * '' Ploiaria matilei'' Dispons & Villiers, 1967 * '' Ploiaria maya'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria media'' McAtee & Malloch, 1926 * '' Ploiaria megalops'' (Champion, 1898) * '' Ploiaria mellea'' McAtee & Malloch, 1926 * '' Ploiaria metapterina'' * '' Ploiaria mimeuri'' Villiers, 1943 * '' Ploiaria modesta'' Montrouzier, 1865 * '' Ploiaria montivaga'' Dispons, 1963 * '' Ploiaria mosconai'' Wygodzinsky, 1952 * '' Ploiaria moshesh'' Wygodzinsky, 1958 * '' Ploiaria musgravei'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria nilotica'' Villiers, 1973 * '' Ploiaria nitida'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria noualhieri'' Villiers, 1943 * '' Ploiaria obscura'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria oculata'' (Villiers, 1949) * '' Ploiaria pallida'' Montrouzier, 1855 * '' Ploiaria palmarum'' Maldonado, 1974 * '' Ploiaria paveli'' * '' Ploiaria penai'' Wygodzinsky, 1954 * '' Ploiaria phyllodoce'' Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960 * '' Ploiaria pilicornis'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria plaumanni'' Wygodzinsky, 1966 * '' Ploiaria poncei'' Maldonado, 1948 * '' Ploiaria praedator'' (Champion, 1898) * '' Ploiaria praesentans'' (Distant, 1909) * '' Ploiaria punctipes'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria putoni'' Noualhier, 1895 * '' Ploiaria recta'' McAtee & Malloch, 1926 * '' Ploiaria regina'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria reticulata'' (Baker, 1910) * '' Ploiaria rufoannulata'' (Bergroth, 1911) * '' Ploiaria sachtlebeni'' Villiers, 1948 * '' Ploiaria sefrana'' Dispons, 1960 * '' Ploiaria setulifera'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria sexdentata'' Lindberg, 1932 * '' Ploiaria sicaria'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria similis'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria sonoraensis'' (Van Duzee, 1923) * '' Ploiaria soudanica'' Dispons, 1960 * '' Ploiaria speluncaria'' Villiers, 1979 * '' Ploiaria stysi'' * '' Ploiaria texana'' N.Banks, 1909 * '' Ploiaria thetis'' Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960 * '' Ploiaria tibestina'' Villiers, 1982 * '' Ploiaria tillandsiacola'' Maldonado & Brailovsky, 1983 * '' Ploiaria tuberculata'' Villiers, 1949 * '' Ploiaria turkestanica'' Putshkov, 1984 * '' Ploiaria ultima'' McAtee & Malloch, 1966 * '' Ploiaria umbrarum'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria uniseriata'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria vandoesburgi'' Redei, 2008 * '' Ploiaria varipennis'' McAtee & Malloch, 1925 * '' Ploiaria villiersi'' Maldonado, 1978 * '' Ploiaria vincenti'' (Villiers, 1966) * '' Ploiaria wahrmani'' Wygodzinsky, 1952 * '' Ploiaria woodwardi'' Wygodzinsky, 1956 * '' Ploiaria yunquensis'' Maldonado, 1948

References

* http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Insecta/Hemiptera/Reduviidae/OTHER/species_list.Weirauch,_Christiane.20060306.org {{Taxonbar, from=Q10634678 Reduviidae Cimicomorpha genera Taxa named by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli