Hotea
Genus of true bugs
Hotea | |
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Hotea curculionoides | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Hemiptera |
Family: | Scutelleridae |
Genus: | Hotea Amyot & Serville, 1843 |
Hotea is a genus of African and Asian shield-backed bugs belonging to the family Scutelleridae.
Species
- Hotea acuta Stål, 1865
- Hotea circumcincta Walker, 1867
- Hotea curculionoides (Herrich-Schäffer, 1836)
- Hotea denticulata Stål, 1865
- Hotea gambiae (Westwood, 1837)
- Hotea nigrorufa Walker, 1867
- Hotea redtenbacheri
- Hotea subfasciata (Westwood, 1837
[1]
Description
Male jewel bugs of the genus Hotea possess an unusually large, spiky, and heavily sclerotized genitalia. They are used in a mating practice known as traumatic insemination, a result of evolutionary sexual conflict. Male Hotea bugs tear through the female reproductive ducts to deposit sperm, inflicting substantial damage to the female in the process.[2]