Overview
This family of bugs is found throughout the world but is most common in tropical and subtropical areas.
The Acanthosomatidae are phytophagous (plant feeding) bugs that suck the juices from their hosts. Host records for Australian taxa are sparse. One species,
Sangarius paradoxus
, is recorded from
Hakea
(Proteaceae).
Some species of Acanthosomatidae display maternal care of the eggs and nymphs, defending them against predators or parasitic Hymenoptera. Experiments have shown that if the guarding adults are removed mortality among the eggs can rise to 100%.
Distribution
All 3 recognised subfamilies are found in Australia. The small subfamily Ditomotarsinae contains only 2 species,
Sangarius paradoxus,
which is found in south-west Western Australia and
Aesepus signoretii
for which no exact locality is known. The Blaudusinae are distributed throughout the southern hemisphere and in Australia contains 2 tribes, 9 genera and 18 species. The Acanthosomatinae are found throughout the world and are the most diverse subfamily of the Acanthosomatidae in Australia, comprising 6 genera and 25 species.