Holoptilus is genus of feather-legged assassin bug. The hairs on the antennae and legs are long. They have widely separated ocelli and the dorsum of the head behind the eyes is elevated in the middle and bears long hairs. The antennae are four segmented and the hemelytra are twice as long as the abdomen. The tarsi are two segmented. They have a trichome on the underside of the abdomen which is thought to produce chemicals to attract ants on which they prey.[1] There are about 25 described species from the Old World tropics (Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Palearctic Realms).[2]
| Holoptilus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holoptilus fasciatus from India | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hemiptera |
| Suborder: | Heteroptera |
| Family: | Reduviidae |
| Subfamily: | Holoptilinae |
| Genus: | Holoptilus Lepeletier & Audinet-Serville, 1825 |
| Type species | |
| Holoptilus ursus Lepeletier & Serville, 1825 | |
Species in the genus include:[3]
- Holoptilus agnellus Westwood, 1874
- Holoptilus aries Miller, 1940
- Holoptilus astutus Miller, 1950
- Holoptilus braunsi Miller, 1950
- Holoptilus capensis Miller, 1950
- Holoptilus cuneatus Miller, 1950
- Holoptilus dimidiatus Westwood, 1874
- Holoptilus fasciatus Reuter, 1881
- Holoptilus flavus Montandon, 1907
- Holoptilus fur Miller, 1940
- Holoptilus gillonae Villiers, 1965
- Holoptilus katanganus Villiers, 1954
- Holoptilus kinabaluensis Miller, 1940
- Holoptilus lacustris Miller, 1950
- Holoptilus leprosus Miller, 1940
- Holoptilus lupus Wallengren, 1875
- Holoptilus melanospilus (Walker, 1873)
- Holoptilus nebulosus Stål, 1865
- Holoptilus oraniensis Puton, 1885
- Holoptilus silvanus Hsiao, 1974
- Holoptilus transvaalensis Montandon, 1908
- Holoptilus ursus Lepeletier and Serville, 1825
- Holoptilus viverra (Walker, 1873)
- Holoptilus vulpes Stål, 1865
References
edit- ↑ Weirauch, Christiane; Cassis, Gerasimos (2006). "Attracting Ants: The Trichome and Novel Glandular Areas on the Sternum of Ptilocnemus lemur (Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Holoptilinae)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 114 (1/2): 28–37. ISSN 0028-7199.
- ↑ Shah, Syed Ishfaq Ali; Ahmad, Azaz; Li, Hu; Cai, Wanzhi (2019-11-13). "First record of Holoptilinae from Pakistan, with the redescription of Holoptilus fasciatus (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)". Zootaxa. 4695 (6). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4695.6.4. ISSN 1175-5334.
- ↑ "ITIS - Report: Holoptilus". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2026-05-22.