''Primicimex'' is a monotypic

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

ectoparasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

bed bugs in the family

Cimicidae The Cimicidae are a family of small parasitic bugs that feed exclusively on the blood of warm-blooded animals. They are called cimicids or, loosely, bed bugs, though the latter term properly refers to the most famous member of the family, ''C ...

, the only species being ''Primicimex cavernis'', which is both the largest cimicid, and the most primitive one. It feeds on bats and was described from Ney Cave in

Medina County, Texas Medina County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,748. Its county seat is Hondo. The county is named for the Medina River. The extreme northern part of the county lies within the Edw ...

but has since been found in four other caves in Guatemala, Mexico and southern US (39 MB)

Description

Like all cimicids, ''Primicimex cavernis'' is flat and oval-shaped, becoming plumper after feeding. It is unable to fly and has beak-like mouthparts with which it pierces the skin and sucks the blood of its host. It differs from other cimicids (except ''Bucimex chilensis'') in having claws and a row of erect, peg-like spines on the tarsus and has been observed using these structures to cling onto the bat's

pelage Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily #Guard hair, guard hair on top and thick #Down hair, underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as ...

Ecology

''Primicimex cavernis'' and its nearest relative, '' Bucimex chilensis'', are the only members of the cimicid subfamily Primicimicinae. Their hosts are exclusively bats; in the case of ''P. cavernis'', this is the

Mexican free-tailed bat The Mexican free-tailed bat or Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Tadarida brasiliensis'') is a medium-sized bat native to the Americas, so named because its tail can be almost half its total length and is not attached to its uropatagium. It has been ...

(''Tadarida brasiliensis''), although the

ghost-faced bat The ghost-faced bat (''Mormoops megalophylla'') is a bat in the genus ''Mormoops''. It is one of only two extant species within its genus, the other being the much smaller ''Mormoops blainvillii''. They are nocturnal and hunt using Animal echolo ...

(''Mormoops megalophylla''), which roosts in the same cave, may act as a secondary host. Ney Cave is a limestone cave in semiarid

savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...

grassland with

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(''Quercus''),

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus ''Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under grou ...

(''Prosopis'') and grasses. The cave is a seasonal roost used by the bats as nursery quarters, and at dusk during the summer, upward of 400,000 bats may stream out of the cave entrance to forage for insects, returning to the roost before dawn. The young are mostly born in June and remain in the roost until able to fly, at about 40 days of age. Cimicids have the ability to survive for long periods without feeding, and this allows ''Primicimex cavernis'' to hide in crevices, awaiting the return of their hosts from their over-wintering sites. Like other cimicids, ''Primicimex cavernis'' feeds exclusively on blood. It also performs

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 ...

with the sperm being injected through the body wall but it is exceptional within the family in that at the injection site females do not possess a special female organ called the spermalege

Description

Ecology

References

Further reading