Nepoidea

Lethocerus delpontei, copyright Wolfram Sondermann.

Belongs within: Panheteroptera.

The Nepoidea are a group of aquatic bugs in which the fore wing venation is reticulate and the eighth abdominal tergum is modified into a pair of respiratory processes. In members of the family Nepidae, water scorpions, these processes are angular filaments that form a more or less elongate siphon (Carver et al. 1991).

<==Nepoidea
    |--Nepidae GE05
    |    |  i. s.: Curicta Im92
    |    |--Ranatrinae CGW91
    |    |    |--Austronepa angusta CGW91, WEE74
    |    |    |--Goondnomdanepa CGW91
    |    |    |--Cercotmetus CGW91
    |    |    `--Ranatra TW05
    |    |         |--R. australiensis G75
    |    |         |--R. dispar CGW91
    |    |         |--R. linearis CS77
    |    |         `--R. quadridentata RD77
    |    `--Nepinae CGW91
    |         |--Laccotrephes tristis CGW91
    |         `--Nepa Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              |--N. atra Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              |--N. cimicoides Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              |--N. cinerea Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              |--N. fusca Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              |--N. grandis Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              |--N. linearis Linnaeus 1758 L58
    |              `--N. rubra Linnaeus 1758 L58
    `--Belostomatidae GE05
         |  i. s.: Mesobelostomum deperditum S02
         |         Odrowasicoris polonicus S02
         |         Iberonepa romerali GE05, S02
         |         Lethonectes GE05
         |         Tarsabedus GE05
         |         Nettelstedtia GE05
         |         Mesonepa GE05
         |         Scarabeides GE05
         |         Stygeonepa GE05
         |         Lethopterus GE05
         |         Hydrocyrius columbiae Spinola 1850 [incl. Belostoma capitatum Guerin-Meneville 1856] M62
         |         Sphaerodema eques G75
         |         Zaitha flumineum RD77
         |--Belostomatinae CGW91
         |    |--Belostoma testaceopallidum G20
         |    `--Diplonychus CGW91
         |         |--D. eques CGW91
         |         `--D. rusticus [=Sphaerodema rusticum] CGW91
         `--Lethocerus M62 [Lethocerinae CGW91]
              |--L. annulipes (Herrich-Schäffer 1848) (see below for synonymy) M62
              |--L. colossicus M62
              |--L. delpontei M62
              |--L. deyrollei (Vuillefroy 1864) Iw92
              |--L. distinctifemur CGW91
              |--‘Belostoma’ distinctum Dufour 1863 M62
              |--L. grandis RD77
              |--L. (Benacus) griseus (Say 1832) [incl. B. angustatum Guerin-Meneville 1856] M62
              |--L. indicus WEE70
              |--L. insulanus CGW91
              |--‘Belostoma’ litigiosum Dufour 1863 M62
              |--L. medius (Guerin-Meneville 1856) [=Belostoma medium; incl. B. curtum Guerin-Meneville 1856] M62
              |--‘Belostoma’ obscurum Dufour 1863 M62
              `--L. turgaicus S02

Lethocerus annulipes (Herrich-Schäffer 1848) [=Belostoma annulipes; incl. B. mayri Montandon 1896, B. ruficeps Dufour 1863, B. signoreti Dufour 1863] M62

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[CGW91] Carver, M., G. F. Gross & T. E. Woodward. 1991. Hemiptera (bugs, leafhoppers, cicadas, aphids, scale insects etc.) In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers 2^nd ed. vol. 1 pp. 429–509. Melbourne University Press: Carlton (Victoria).

[CS77] Cramp, S., & K. E. L. Simmons (eds) 1977. Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palaearctic vol. 1. Ostrich to Ducks. Oxford University Press: Oxford.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[GE05] Grimaldi, D., & M. S. Engel. 2005. Evolution of the Insects. Cambridge University Press: New York.

[G75] Gross, G. F. 1975. Plant-feeding and Other Bugs (Hemiptera) of South Australia. Heteroptera—Part I. Handbook of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia.

[Im92] Imes, R. 1992. The Practical Entomologist. Aurum Press: London.

[Iw92] Iwahashi, J. (ed.) 1992. Reddo Deeta Animaruzu: a pictorial of Japanese fauna facing extinction. JICC: Tokyo.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[M62] Menke, A. S. 1962. Notes on species of Lethocerus Mayr and Hydrocyrius Spinola described by Guerin-Meneville, L. Dufour, A. L. Montandon, and G. A. W. Herrich-Schäffer (Belostomatidae; Hemiptera). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 75: 61–66.

[RD77] Richards, O. W., & R. G. Davies. 1977. Imms' General Textbook of Entomology 10^th ed. vol. 2. Classification and Biology. Chapman and Hall: London.

[S02] Sinitshenkova, N. D. 2002. Ecological history of the aquatic insects. In: Rasnitsyn, A. P., & D. L. J. Quicke (eds) History of Insects pp. 388–426. Kluwer Academic Publishers: Dordrecht.

[WEE74] Woodward, T. E., V. F. Eastop & J. W. Evans. 1974. Hemiptera (bugs, leafhoppers, etc.) In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers. Supplement 1974 pp. 52–57. Melbourne University Press.

[WEE70] Woodward, T. E., J. W. Evans & V. F. Eastop. 1970. Hemiptera (bugs, leafhoppers, etc.) In: CSIRO. The Insects of Australia: A textbook for students and research workers pp. 387–457. Melbourne University Press.

Last updated: 14 May 2022.