Tropidothorax leucopterus

Tropidothorax leucopterus is a species of ground bugs belonging to the family Lygaeidae, subfamily Lygaeinae.

Tropidothorax leucopterus
Tropidothorax leucopterus, upperside
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Hemiptera
Suborder:
Heteroptera
Infraorder:
Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily:
Lygaeoidea
Family:
Lygaeidae
Subfamily:
Lygaeinae
Genus:
Tropidothorax
Species:
T. leucopterus
Binomial name
Tropidothorax leucopterus
(Goeze, 1778)
Synonyms
  • Cimex leucopterus Goeze, 1778
  • Lygaeus simla Distant, 1909

Distribution

This species can be found in most of Central and Southern Europe, in North Africa, in Turkey, in the Caucasus, Iran and in Central Asia.

In Europe these bugs are present in Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Yugoslavia),[1]

Description

Tropidothorax leucopterus can reach a length of 9–10 millimetres (0.35–0.39 in). Bodies of these bugs are oval-elongated, with a striking red-black warning color. The head is black, with a small red spot in the middle.

Pronotum is basically black, with black lateral margins, a black middle stripe and a red stripe at the front edge. Pronotum has a middle keel running from the front edge to the posterior margin. The scutellum and clavus of the hemielytra are black. Corium is predominantly red. The membrane is matt black, with a white spot at the inner angle. Connexivum is alternately black and red spotted. The abdomen is red with black spots. Both the antennae as well as the legs are black.

Biology

These bugs mainly feed on white swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum hirundinaria) and broadleaf milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).[2]

The red-black coloring is a warning (aposematism), as they are poisonous by storing substances from their poisonous host plants. The birds learn to avoid these prey.[3][4]

References
  1. Fauna europaea
  2. Biolib
  3. B.S. Tullberg, G. Gamberale-Stille, C. Solbreck (2000): Effects of food plant and group size on predator defence: differences between two co-occurring aposematic Lygaeinae bugs. Ecological Entomology 25: 220–225. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2311.2000.00238.x}
  4. Emily R. Burdfield-Steel & David M Shuker (2014): The evolutionary ecology of the Lygaeidae. Ecology and Evolution Ecol Evol. 2014 Jun; 4(11): 2278–2301.
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