The Polyctenidae are a rarely collected

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

parasitic 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 ha ...

bugs of the superfamily Cimicoidea. Polyctenidae species or bat bugs are obligate,

hematophagous Hematophagy (sometimes spelled haematophagy or hematophagia) is the practice by certain animals of feeding on blood (from the Greek words αἷμα ' "blood" and φαγεῖν ' "to eat"). Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious p ...

ectoparasites 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 ha ...

of bats. These insects are not to be confused with cimicid

bat bug Bat bugs are blood-sucking insect parasites that feed primarily on the blood of bats. The name has been applied to members of the family '' Cimicidae'' (e.g. ''Cimex lectularius'', '' Afrocimex constrictus'') and also to members of the family '' ...

s, which are members of 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 ...

. A significant relationship appears to occur between the family groups and the species of hosts that indicates co-evolution and specialization. There are currently 32 species of polyctenid bat bugs recognized world wide belonging to two subfamilies and five genera. Polyctenidae species occur both in the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by thei ...

(subfamily Polycteninae) and

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

(subfamily Hesperocteninae).

Subtaxa

Subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...

Polycteninae: **

Genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

'' Adroctenes'' ***'' Adroctenes horvathi'' ***'' Adroctenes jordani'' ***'' Adroctenes magnus'' **

'' Eoctenes'' ***'' Eoctenes intermedius'' ***'' Eoctenes spasmae'' ***'' Eoctenes sinae'' ***'' Eoctenes ferrisi'' ***'' Eoctenes maai'' ***'' Eoctenes nycteridis'' ***'' Eoctenes coleurae'' **

'' Hypoctenes'' ***'' Hypoctenes petiolatus'' ***'' Hypoctenes quadratus'' ***'' Hypoctenes hutsoni'' ***'' Hypoctenes clarus'' ***'' Hypoctenes faini'' **

'' Polyctenes'' ***'' Polyctenes molossus'' *

Hesperocteninae: **

References

Cimicomorpha Parasitic bugs Parasites of bats Heteroptera families {{Cimicomorpha-stub