Lyctocoridae range in length from 2 mm to 6 mm. They have tarsi 3-segmented, forewing with a costal fracture and with weakly developed veins in the membrane, laterotergites on all abdominal terga, and male genitalia strongly asymmetrical (left paramere larger than the right).[2]
Overall they resemble the related family Anthocoridae, but can be distinguished by:
In males, the left paramere is flat, with a single-sheet form, and without a median sulcus. The phallus is tubular and well visible, with ductus seminis striated transversely and extended apically by a needle-shaped acus.[4]
In females, there are genital apophyses in the anterior region of abdominal sternum 7.[4]
Lyctocoridae are mostly predators of small, soft-bodied arthropods, though L. campestris occasionally feeds on mammal (including human) blood[2][3] and L. ichikawai is only known to feed on sap of sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima).[5] Adults and nymphs have similar diets.[4]
This family of bugs occurs under tree bark and in decaying plant matter, animal nests and burrows, manure piles, poultry houses, granaries and stored food products.[2][3]
Lyctocoridae practice traumatic insemination in which the male pierces the female (using the acus of his phallus) between terga 7 and 8 on the right side of her abdomen. The male's sperm migrate through the haemocoel or through specialized structures in the female to the ovaries, then fertilise the eggs within the vitellarium.[3]
Some species of Lyctocoridae are biological control agents that feed on pest insects. Xylocoris and Lyctocoris attack beetle and moth pests in stored food products, and these genera along with Scoloposcelis attack bark beetle pests.[3]
Media related to Lyctocoridae at Wikimedia Commons
