Peloridiidae

Peloridiidae
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Suborder:	Coleorrhyncha
Family:	Peloridiidae

Peloridiidae is a family of true bugs, comprising 17 genera and 36 species. They are small, ranging in length from 2 to 4 mm, rarely seen, peculiarly lumpy, flattened bugs found in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile), New Zealand, eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island and New Caledonia. All the Peloridiidae species are flightless, except one. Their present distribution suggests that they have existed before the breakup of Gondwana, and their relation to Heteroptera (true bugs) dates back to at least the upper Permian, more than 230 Myr ago. Peloridiids are found amongst mosses and liverworts, commonly in association with southern beech forests. They have become known as moss bugs for their habit of feeding on mosses.

Peloridiidae is the only family in the suborder Coleorrhyncha, although there are alternative classifications in which the group is treated as an infraorder within the suborder Prosorrhyncha, in which case it is called Peloridiomorpha (see the Heteroptera and Prosorrhyncha pages for a discussion).

References

• Hoch, H.; Deckert, J.; Wessel, A. (2006). "Vibrational signalling in a Gondwanan relict insect (Hemiptera: Coleorrhyncha: Peloridiidae).". Biology Letters 22 (2): 222–224. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0451. PMID 17148367. http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/vm751t338366x5p1/. 

Images

• Peloridium hammoniorum http://homepage.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/Andre.Mursch/14.htm