Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Laboratório de Entomologia Sistemática, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Fisiológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Av. Itália, km 8, Bairro Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil; Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, Av. Itália, km 8, Bairro Carreiros, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil.
Zoology (Jena). 2022 Apr;151:125991. doi: 10.1016/j.zool.2021.125991. Epub 2021 Dec 27.
The Asopinae are known for their predatory behavior, differing from the phytophagous habits of most pentatomoids, feeding mostly on soft body insects such as larvae of Lepidoptera and Coleoptera. For this reason, asopines have been studied as biological controllers in integrated pest management programs. Notwithstanding their clear relevance, the general knowledge about Asopinae has important gaps, especially regarding immature. Thus, the importance of studying eggs and nymphs of true bugs (Heteroptera) is evident, contributing to understand their classification, biology, and evolution. In this perspective, we conducted a research about immature of predatory stink bugs, highlighting critical features for identification. We present: (1) a literature overview about eggs and nymphs of predatory stink bugs guided by selected categories; (2) images of females laying eggs of ten species and nymphs of thirty-four species, obtained on websites with a citizen science approach; (3) a comparative morphology of immature of six species reared under laboratory conditions, which we examined using light and scanning electron microscopy. We found a remarkable morphological diversity of both eggs and nymphs of Asopinae, revealing key features to establish diagnoses for identification and potential characters to phylogenetics, such as the aero-micropylar processes and chorion scultpturing of the eggs; and the coloration, labium and abdominal plates morphology of nymphs. The results show that little is known about Asopinae immature considering the diversity of the group; however, information obtained by citizen science initiatives, for instance, can improve this knowledge.
食虫蝽亚科以其捕食行为而闻名，与大多数半翅目植食性昆虫的习性不同，它们主要以柔软的昆虫为食，如鳞翅目和鞘翅目幼虫。出于这个原因，食虫蝽已被研究作为综合虫害管理计划中的生物控制因子。尽管它们具有明显的相关性，但关于食虫蝽亚科的一般知识仍存在重要的空白，尤其是关于若虫的知识。因此，研究捕食性蝽类（半翅目）的卵和若虫对于了解它们的分类、生物学和进化至关重要。有鉴于此，我们对捕食性臭虫的若虫进行了研究，强调了鉴定的关键特征。我们介绍了：（1）以选定类别为指导的关于捕食性臭虫卵和若虫的文献综述；（2）通过公民科学方法在网站上获得的十种物种雌性产卵和三十四种物种若虫的图像；（3）在实验室条件下饲养的六种物种的若虫比较形态学，我们使用光学和扫描电子显微镜对其进行了检查。我们发现食虫蝽亚科的卵和若虫形态多样，揭示了建立鉴定诊断的关键特征和潜在的系统发育特征，例如卵的气生 micropylar 过程和卵壳纹饰；以及若虫的颜色、上唇和腹部板形态。结果表明，考虑到该组的多样性，人们对食虫蝽亚科的若虫知之甚少；然而，例如公民科学倡议获得的信息可以改善这方面的知识。
