Family CYDNIDAE Billberg, 1820 – burrowing bugs (burrower bugs)
J.A. Lis
The family includes 89 genera and about 680 species distributed worldwide, but the majority of them is known from warm and tropical parts of the Old World. Most cydnids, as suggested by the common name, are very well adapted for digging in the ground. Nearly all species are plant-feeders (among them root-feeders), some are not fossorial and are suggested to be seed-feeders or mycetophagous. Adults of several species show varying degrees of maternal care of eggs and early instars. Cydnidae have generally been considered of little economic importance, but up to date almost 30 species have been reported as pests, mainly in the Neotropics and Oriental Region. The economic importance and biology of some species of Cydnidae was summarized by J.A. Lis et al. (2000). The classification of the family follows Froeschner (1960) and J.A. Lis (1994a).
World revision: Signoret, 1881-1884 (outdated). Palaearctic catalogue: J.A. Lis, 2006c. Old World catalogue: J.A. Lis, 1999a. Monographs and revisions: Froeschner, 1960 (New World); Linnavuori, 1993c (West, Central and North-East Africa); J.A. Lis, 1994a (Oriental Region), 1996a (Australian Region). Morphology and classification: Wagner, 1963u (genitalia); J.A. Lis & Hohol-Kilinkiewicz, 2001a, 2001b, 2002a, 2002b (abdominal trichobothria), 2002c (dorso-abdominal scent glands); J.A. Lis & Heyna, 2001a (metathoracic wing venation), 2001b (metathoracic wing stridulitrum); J.A. Lis, 2002 (mesothoracic wing); J.A. Lis & Pluot-Sigwalt, 2002 (cephalic chaetotaxy).