Helotrephidae

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Paraneoptera
Superordo: Condylognatha
Ordo: Hemiptera
Subordo: Heteroptera
Superfamilia: Pleoidea

Familia: Helotrephidae
Subfamilia: Fischerotrephinae - Helotrephinae - Idiocorinae - Neotrephinae - Trephotomasinae
Name

Helotrephidae Esaki & China, 1927
Type genus: Helotrephes Stål, 1860

References

Nieser, N. & P. Chen 1999: Sixteen new species of Nepomorpha (Heteroptera) mainly from Sulawesi (Indonesia). Tijdschrift voor entomologie, 142(1): 77–123. PDF
Papáček, M. 1995: Idiotrephes meszarosi sp.n., a new helotrephid (Heteroptera: Helotrephidae) from Vietnam. Aquatic insects, 17(2): 105–111. DOI: 10.1080/01650429509361578
Rodrigues, H.D.D.; Melo, A.L. De; Ferreira-Keppler, R.L. 2012: Macropterous form of Paratrephes China, 1940, with new distributional records of Neotrephinae from Brazil (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Helotrephidae). Zootaxa 3483: 82–88. Preview Reference page.
Zettel H.; Papáček, M. 2004 : A review of the genus Esakiella China, 1932 (Insecta: Heteroptera: Helotrephidae) in Madagascar, with descriptions of five new species. Annalen des Naturhistorisches Museum Wien B 105: 327–348.
Zettel H.; Papáček, M. 2008: Redescriptions of three poorly known Helotrephini (Insecta: Heteroptera: Helotrephidae). Annalen des Naturhistorisches Museum Wien B 109: 93–104. Full article: [1]
Zettel H.; Papáček, M.; Kovac, D. 2011: Guide to the aquatic heteroptera of Singapore and Peninsular Malaysia: VII. Family Helotrephidae. Raffles bulletin of zoology, 59(2): 171–179. PDF

Links

EoL

Helotrephidae is a family of aquatic bugs found mainly in the tropical regions with many species in the Oriental Realm and a few from Africa, Madagascar and South America. These bugs are found swimming or walking amid submerged vegetation in stagnant or slow moving, shaded freshwater in forest habitats. They are a sister group of the Pleidae.

Adult bugs in the family Helotrephidae are rounded and similar to Pleidae but the head is fused to the prothorax. The antennae are one or two segmented and the terminal segment has many long hair-like extensions. The scutellum is large and many species are incapable of flight as the hindwings are reduced. The tarsal counts on the fore, mid and hind legs are variable, 3-3-3, 2-2-3, or 1-1-2. Helotrephids are predators feeding on small invertebrates by inserting their proboscis and sucking the body fluids. The obtain air from the water surface and hold a pocket of air between the hemielytra and the abdomen.[2][3][4]
References

Esaki, T.; China, W.E. (1927). "A New Family of Aquatic Heteroptera". Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 75 (2): 279–295. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2311.1927.tb00075.x.
Schuh, R.T.; Slater, J.A. (1995). True bugs of the world (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): Classification and natural history. Cornell University Press. pp. 130–133.
Esaki, Teiso; China, W.E. (1928). "A Monograph of the Helotrephidae, subfamily Helotrephinae (Hem. Heteroptera)". Revista Española de Entomología. 4 (2): 129–172. hdl:10261/140776.
Zettel, H. (2002). "The Helotrephidae (Insecta: Heteroptera) of the Philippine Islands". Annalen des Naturhistorischen Museums in Wien. Serie B für Botanik und Zoologie. 104: 45–97. ISSN 0255-0105. JSTOR 41767245.