''Thasus'' is an insect

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 ...

of the

Coreidae Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-sucking insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus ''Coreus'', which derives from the Ancient Greek () meaning bedbug. As a family, the Coreidae a ...

, or leaf-footed bugs. It is a genus in the

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. 3 ...

Nematopodini tribe that feeds on plants. It is chiefly found in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, but species also occur in South America, and as far north as the American Southwest.

History

In 1862,

Carl Stål Carl Stål (21 March 1833 – 13 June 1878) was a Swedish entomologist specialising in Hemiptera. He was born at Karlberg Castle, Stockholm on 21 March 1833 and died at Frösundavik near Stockholm on 13 June 1878. He was the son of architect, a ...

distinguished two types in the then existing genus '' Pachylis'', those where the muscle widening (dilation) of the hind-leg tibia occurs only ventrally (downward), and those where it occurs on both sides (ventrally and dorsally). In 1865, he separated these into two genera, leaving the ventral only type in ''Pachylis'', and moving the three species with the muscle widening on both sides into the newly established genus ''Thasus''. Those three species then became ''Thasus acutangulus'', ''Thasus gigas'' and ''Thasus heteropus''. In 1867 he published a

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

to the two genera. Van Duzee later picked ''Thasus gigas'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

(logotype) for the genus, as he felt that it best represented the characteristics of the genus.

Species

* '' Thasus acutangulus'' * '' Thasus carchinus'' * '' Thasus gigas'' * '' Thasus heteropus'' * '' Thasus luteolus'' * '' Thasus neocalifornicus'' * '' Thasus odonnellae'' * '' Thasus rutilus''

References

Coreidae genera Hemiptera of North America Hemiptera of Central America Hemiptera of South America Nematopodini {{Coreidae-stub