Overview
Pyrrhocoridae is a family of insects with more than 300 species world-wide. A common species in parts of Europe is the firebug. They are part of the order Hemiptera which are also known as the 'true bugs'. A few are important crop pests. They are called cotton stainers because their red bodies get crushed along with the cotton they eat when it is harvested, and these stains are difficult to remove. Their feeding mechanism also cuts the fibres and hence affects the growth of the cotton ball. They caused massive problems in the United States during the industrial revolution.
- Dysdercus suturellus, cotton stainer on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
Media r
elated to Pyrrhocoridae at Wikimedia Commons 
Data related to Pyrrhocoridae at Wikispecies
Taxonomy
The Family Pyrrhocoridae is a member of the Superfamily Pyrrhocoroidea. Here is the complete "parentage" of Pyrrhocoridae:
- Domain: Eukaryota
Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Branch: Protostomia
Grobben, 1908 - protostomes
- Infrakingdom: Ecdysozoa
A.M.A. Aguinaldo et al., 1997 ex T. Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - ecdysozoans
- Superphylum: Panarthropoda
Cuvier
- Phylum: Arthropoda
Latreille, 1829 - Arthropods
- Subphylum: Mandibulata
Snodgrass, 1938
- Infraphylum: Atelocerata
Heymons, 1901
- Superclass: Panhexapoda
- Class: Insecta
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Insects
- Subclass: Dicondylia
- Infraclass: Pterygota
- Winged Insects
- Superorder: Condylognatha
- Order: Hemiptera
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies
- Suborder: Heteroptera
- Bugs
- Infraorder: Pentatomorpha
- Superfamily: Pyrrhocoroidea
- Family: Pyrrhocoridae (Amyot & Serville, 1843) - red bugs, stainers
- Superfamily: Pyrrhocoroidea
- Infraorder: Pentatomorpha
- Suborder: Heteroptera
- Bugs
- Order: Hemiptera
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies
- Superorder: Condylognatha
- Infraclass: Pterygota
- Winged Insects
- Subclass: Dicondylia
- Class: Insecta
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - Insects
- Superclass: Panhexapoda
- Infraphylum: Atelocerata
Heymons, 1901
- Subphylum: Mandibulata
Snodgrass, 1938
- Phylum: Arthropoda
Latreille, 1829 - Arthropods
- Superphylum: Panarthropoda
Cuvier
- Infrakingdom: Ecdysozoa
A.M.A. Aguinaldo et al., 1997 ex T. Cavalier-Smith, 1998 - ecdysozoans
- Branch: Protostomia
Grobben, 1908 - protostomes
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Kingdom: Animalia
C. Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
The Family Pyrrhocoridae is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Subfamily (1): Lygaeinae
- Genus (6): Antilochus · Dysdercus · Euscopus · Graptostethus · Pyrrhocoris · Scantius
- Species: ZipcodeZoo has pages for 41 species and subspecies in the Family Pyrrhocoridae.
Genera
Antilochus
Dysdercus
Euscopus
Graptostethus
Pyrrhocoris
Scantius
At least 3 species and subspecies belong to the Genus Scantius.
More info about the Genus Scantius may be found here.
Sources
- The distribution map on the Distribution tab comes from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and is used with permission.
- Photographs on this page are copyrighted by individual photographers, and individual copyrights apply.
- The technology underlying this page, including the controls behind Keep Exploring, is owned by the BayScience Foundation. All rights are reserved.