Family APHYLIDAE

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Introduction

The Aphylidae are a small, endemic Australian family of pentatomoid bugs. The family comprises three species, in two genera: Aphylum syntheticum Bergroth, A. bergrothi Schouteden, and the recently described species (Štys & Davidová-Vilímová 2001), Neoaphylum grossi. Aphylum syntheticum is known from drier parts of South Australia and Victoria, and N. grossi is known only from the type locality north-east of Perth in Western Australia; no exact distribution data is known for A. bergrothi.

Bergroth (1906) initially described this genus as a subfamily of Pentatomidae. McDonald (1970) proposed that aphylids are closely related to other pentatomids, based on similarities of the aedeagus and spermatheca. Gross (1975) regarded the group as a subfamily of Pentatomidae, dismissing the enlarged pronotum as a homoplastic character of little significance because of its occurrence in unrelated Pentatomoidea (e.g. Scutelleridae, Plataspidae, Lestoniidae and some Pentatominae). Gross (1975) considered aphylids to be closely related to the pentatomid genera Tarisa Amyot & Serville and Kumbutha Distant. Carver et al. (1991) maintained their subfamilial status within the Pentatominae. Schuh & Slater (1995) resurrected the family status for aphylids without justification. In this Catalogue, we accept family rank for the group. Rider (pers. comm.) disputes this arrangement because of similarities in the spermatheca of aphylids and pentatomids. He considers aphylids to be no more than a pentatomid subfamily.

Knowledge of aphylid biology is limited. Aphylum species are found under the bark of the River Red Gum, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh. (Myrtaceae).

Diagnosis

Aphylids are small pentatomids that have a strongly convex dorsum. The head is short barely extending beyond the eyes. The labium is elongate, extending beyond the hind coxae. The pronotum has large posterolateral lobes. The meso- and metanota are visible in lateral view beneath the hemelytra. The scutellum is large, covering the apex of the abdomen but not the laterotergites or the lateral margins of the corium. The parameres have two articulated sections. (Gross 1975; Schuh & Slater 1995)

Diagnosis References

Gross, G.F. 1975. Plant-feeding and Other Bugs (Hemiptera) of South Australia. Heteroptera. Adelaide : A.B. James Vol. 1 250 pp., 3 colour pls.

Schuh, R.T. & Slater, J.A. 1995. True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Ithaca : Cornell University Press xii 336 pp.

General References

Bergroth, E. 1906. Aphylinae und Hyocephalinae, zwei neue Hemipteren-Subfamilien. Zoologischer Anzeiger 29: 644-649

Carver, M., Gross, G.F. & Woodward, T.E. 1991. Hemiptera (bugs, leafhoppers, cicadas, aphids, scale insects, etc.) [with contributions by Cassis, G., Evans, J.W., Fletcher, M.J., Hill, L., Lansbury, I., Malipatil, M.B., Monteith, G.B., Moulds, M.S., Polhemus, J.T., Slater, J.A., Štys, P., Taylor, K.L., Weir, T.A. & Williams, D.J.]. pp. 429-509 in CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers. Melbourne : Melbourne University Press Vol. 1 xiii 542 pp.

Gross, G.F. 1975. Plant-feeding and Other Bugs (Hemiptera) of South Australia. Heteroptera. Adelaide : A.B. James Vol. 1 250 pp., 3 colour pls.

McDonald, F.J.D. 1970. The morphology of Lestonia haustorifera China (Heteroptera: Lestoniidae). Journal of Natural History 4: 413-417

Schuh, R.T. & Slater, J.A. 1995. True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classification and Natural History. Ithaca : Cornell University Press xii 336 pp.

Štys, P. & Davidová-Vilímová, J. 2001. A new genus and species of the Aphylidae (Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea) from Western Australia, and its unique architecture of the abdomen. Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca 65: 105-126

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