Ploiaria
Ploiaria is a cosmopolitan genus of thread-legged bugs. There are presently about 130 described species.
Description
Ploiaria can be recognised by the head without ventral spine-like setae, the medially emarginated posterior margin of the prosternum, the posterior pronotal lobe covering only the extreme base of the mesonotum, the scutellum and metanotum lacking spines, the profemora lacking a process with several spine-like setae, and three-segmented protarsi. There is great variation in wing development between different species and within species, with macroptery, brachyptery and aptery all occurring in the genus.
Habitat
These bugs live in various habitats ranging from tropical forests to deserts and even oceanic islands. Their microhabitat range includes trees, epiphytes, leaf litter, under bark and under stones. The species P. chilensis and P. domestica are synanthropes, meaning they are associated with human habitats.
Diet
Ploiaria, like other emesines, are predators. They have been recorded feeding on prey such as Phlebotomus flies, mosquitoes and planthoppers.
Selected species
This list contains all species of Ploiaria currently considered valid, except for a few that have been described very recently:Ploiaria abrupta Noualhier, 1895Ploiaria albipennis McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria alexanderi Wygodzinsky, 1954Ploiaria anak Distant, 1909Ploiaria antipoda Bergroth, 1927Ploiaria apicata McAtee & Malloch, 1926Ploiaria aptera McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria armstrongi Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria assimilata Van Duzee, 1935Ploiaria bakeri McAtee & Malloch, 1926Ploiaria basilewskyi Villiers, 1961Ploiaria bequaerti Wygodzinsky, 1953Ploiaria berlandi Villiers, 1943Ploiaria biroi Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria borbonica Villiers, 1971Ploiaria brincki Wygodzinsky, 1958Ploiaria brunnea McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria buscki Wygodzinsky, 1925Ploiaria californiensis Baker, 1910Ploiaria capeneri Wygodzinsky, 1952Ploiaria capensis Villiers, 1949Ploiaria carolina Ploiaria carvalhoi Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria chilensis Ploiaria circe Ploiaria concolor Ploiaria congoana Ploiaria cunnamulla Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria darlingtoni Wygodzinsky, 1954Ploiaria decorata Villiers, 1950Ploiaria denieri Wygodzinsky, 1954Ploiaria denticauda McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria disponsi Linnavuori, 1965Ploiaria djurdjurana Dispons, 1951Ploiaria domestica Scopoli, 1786Ploiaria elegantula Villiers, 1952Ploiaria ellenbergeri Villiers, 1948Ploiaria fairmairei Ploiaria floridana Ploiaria funebris Ploiaria gabonensis Ploiaria geijskesi Wygodzinsky, 1945Ploiaria geniculata Ploiaria glabella Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria gracilipes Villiers, 1973Ploiaria granulata McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria greeni Distant, 1903Ploiaria guadeloupensis Villiers, 1978Ploiaria gundlachi Ploiaria guttata Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria gutturalis Noualhier, 1895Ploiaria hainana Hsiao, 1965Ploiaria halosydne Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960Ploiaria hewitti China, 1925Ploiaria hirticornis Ploiaria icela Wygodzinsky, 1958Ploiaria insolida White, 1877Ploiaria isadas Ploiaria jimmiwum Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria katznelsoni Ploiaria kocheri Dispons, 1963Ploiaria lestoni Ploiaria longa Maldonado, 1972Ploiaria longiventris Ploiaria maai Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria macrophthalma Ploiaria maria Maldonado, 1948Ploiaria matilei Dispons & Villiers, 1967Ploiaria maya Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria media McAtee & Malloch, 1926Ploiaria megalops Ploiaria mellea McAtee & Malloch, 1926Ploiaria metapterinaPloiaria mimeuri Villiers, 1943Ploiaria modesta Montrouzier, 1865Ploiaria montivaga Dispons, 1963Ploiaria mosconai Wygodzinsky, 1952Ploiaria moshesh Wygodzinsky, 1958Ploiaria musgravei Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria nilotica Villiers, 1973Ploiaria nitida McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria noualhieri Villiers, 1943Ploiaria obscura Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria oculata Ploiaria pallida Montrouzier, 1855Ploiaria palmarum Maldonado, 1974Ploiaria paveliPloiaria penai Wygodzinsky, 1954Ploiaria phyllodoce Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960Ploiaria pilicornis McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria plaumanni Wygodzinsky, 1966Ploiaria poncei Maldonado, 1948Ploiaria praedator Ploiaria praesentans Ploiaria punctipes McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria putoni Noualhier, 1895Ploiaria recta McAtee & Malloch, 1926Ploiaria regina Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria reticulata Ploiaria rufoannulata Ploiaria sachtlebeni Villiers, 1948Ploiaria sefrana Dispons, 1960Ploiaria setulifera McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria sexdentata Lindberg, 1932Ploiaria sicaria McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria similis McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria sonoraensis Ploiaria soudanica Dispons, 1960Ploiaria speluncaria Villiers, 1979Ploiaria stysiPloiaria texana N.Banks, 1909Ploiaria thetis Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960Ploiaria tibestina Villiers, 1982Ploiaria tillandsiacola Maldonado & Brailovsky, 1983Ploiaria tuberculata Villiers, 1949Ploiaria turkestanica Putshkov, 1984Ploiaria ultima McAtee & Malloch, 1966Ploiaria umbrarum McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria uniseriata McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria vandoesburgi Redei, 2008Ploiaria varipennis McAtee & Malloch, 1925Ploiaria villiersi Maldonado, 1978Ploiaria vincenti Ploiaria wahrmani Wygodzinsky, 1952Ploiaria woodwardi Wygodzinsky, 1956Ploiaria yunquensis Maldonado, 1948