Petalocheirus is a genus of assassin bugs in the subfamily Salyavatinae. Species in the genus have a leaf-like broadening of the foretibia, and many species are known to be predators of termites. The genus is distributed in the tropics of Africa and Asia and species in apparently closely related genera such as Platychira may need further examination.[1][2]

Petalocheirus
Petalocheirus brachialis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Suborder: Heteroptera
Family: Reduviidae
Subfamily: Salyavatinae
Genus: Petalocheirus
Palisot de Beauvois, 1805

Species in the genus include:

References

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  1. ^ Gordon, Eric R.L.; Weirauch, Christiane (2016). "Efficient capture of natural history data reveals prey conservatism of cryptic termite predators". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94 (Pt A): 65–73. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.08.015. PMID 26314664.
  2. ^ Sheppe, Walter (1970). "Invertebrate predation on termites of the African Savanna". Insectes Sociaux. 17 (3): 205–218. doi:10.1007/BF02226194. S2CID 26006890.