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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Systematic Entomology Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #374597
Research Project: Systematics of Hemiptera and Related Groups: Plant Pests, Predators and Disease Vectors

Location: Systematic Entomology Laboratory

Title: A new species of the web-loving bug genus Lipokophila Stys (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plokiophilidae) from Costa Rica, with a revised key to species

Author
item Henry, Thomas

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/11/2020
Publication Date: 7/23/2020
Citation: Henry, T.J. 2020. A new species of the web-loving bug genus Lipokophila Stys (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Plokiophilidae) from Costa Rica, with a revised key to species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 122(3):650-657.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4289/0013-8797.122.3.650

Interpretive Summary: Web-loving bugs of this genus belong to a small, relatively rare family of predatory true bugs that are obligate associates of spiders. They are placed in a larger superfamily together with bedbugs and batbugs. All species act as scavengers in the webs of certain spiders and sometimes as parasites of the host spider's eggs. The bugs are important from an evolutionary standpoint in helping to better understand the relationships of predatory and parasitic true bugs. In this paper, a new species from Costa Rica is described and a key to the five known species of the genus is presented to aid in identification. This paper will be of interest to systematists and evolutionary biologists studying the higher classification of true bugs.

Technical Abstract: A new species of the spider-web inhabiting cimicoid family Plokiophilidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha) is presented. Lipokophila yanoviaki, n. sp. is described from Costa Rica, the four other species of the genus are diagnosed, and a revised key to species is given. Color habitus images are provided for L. eberhardi Schuh, L. tengella Schuh, and L. yanoviaki, n. sp., and feeding habitus are discussed.