Rhopalidae

Taxobox
name = Rhopalidae

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image_caption = Box Elder Bug ("Boisea trivittata ")
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hemiptera
subordo = Heteroptera
familia = Rhopalidaewikispecies|Rhopalidae

Rhopalids, or scentless plant bugs, differ from the coreids in lacking well-developed scent glands. They are usually light-colored and smaller than the coreids. Some are very similar to the orsilline lygaeids, but can be distinguished by the numerous veins in the membrane of the hemelytra. They live principally on weeds, but a few (including the box elder bug) are arboreal. All are plant feeders. The box elder bug, "Boisea trivittata", is a common and widely distributed species in this group. It is blackish with red markings and 11-14 mm long. It often enters houses and other sheltered places in the fall, sometimes in considerable numbers. It feeds on box elder and occasionally other trees. [Triplehorn, C. and Johnson, N.: "Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th Ed.", page 301. Brooks/Cole, 2005.]

Notes