Ploiaria is a cosmopolitan genus of thread-legged bugs (Emesinae). 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 (developed wings), brachyptery (reduced wings) and aptery (winglessness) all occurring in the genus.
Habitat These bugs live in various habitats ranging from tropical forests to deserts and even oceanic islands (presumably reached by rafting on tree trunks). 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, 1895 Ploiaria albipennis McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria alexanderi Wygodzinsky, 1954 Ploiaria anak Distant, 1909 Ploiaria antipoda Bergroth, 1927 Ploiaria apicata McAtee & Malloch, 1926 Ploiaria aptera McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria armstrongi Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria assimilata Van Duzee, 1935 Ploiaria bakeri McAtee & Malloch, 1926 Ploiaria basilewskyi Villiers, 1961 Ploiaria bequaerti Wygodzinsky, 1953 Ploiaria berlandi Villiers, 1943 Ploiaria biroi Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria borbonica Villiers, 1971 Ploiaria brincki Wygodzinsky, 1958 Ploiaria brunnea McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria buscki Wygodzinsky, 1925 Ploiaria californiensis Baker, 1910 Ploiaria capeneri Wygodzinsky, 1952 Ploiaria capensis Villiers, 1949 Ploiaria carolina (Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850) Ploiaria carvalhoi Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria chilensis (Philippi, 1862) Ploiaria circe (Kirkaldy, 1908) Ploiaria concolor (Dohrn, 1860) Ploiaria congoana (Villiers, 1949) Ploiaria cunnamulla Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria darlingtoni Wygodzinsky, 1954 Ploiaria decorata Villiers, 1950 Ploiaria denieri Wygodzinsky, 1954 Ploiaria denticauda McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria disponsi Linnavuori, 1965 Ploiaria djurdjurana Dispons, 1951 Ploiaria domestica Scopoli, 1786 Ploiaria elegantula Villiers, 1952 Ploiaria ellenbergeri Villiers, 1948 Ploiaria fairmairei (Dohrn, 1860) Ploiaria floridana (Bergroth, 1922) Ploiaria funebris (Bergroth, 1906) Ploiaria gabonensis (Villiers, 1948) Ploiaria geijskesi Wygodzinsky, 1945 Ploiaria geniculata (Stål, 1874) Ploiaria glabella Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria gracilipes Villiers, 1973 Ploiaria granulata McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria greeni Distant, 1903 Ploiaria guadeloupensis Villiers, 1978 Ploiaria gundlachi (Dohrn, 1860) Ploiaria guttata Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria gutturalis Noualhier, 1895 Ploiaria hainana Hsiao, 1965 Ploiaria halosydne Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960 Ploiaria hewitti China, 1925 Ploiaria hirticornis (N.Banks, 1909) Ploiaria icela Wygodzinsky, 1958 Ploiaria insolida White, 1877 Ploiaria isadas (Kirkaldy, 1901) Ploiaria jimmiwum Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria katznelsoni (Dispons, 1964) Ploiaria kocheri Dispons, 1963 Ploiaria lestoni (Villiers, 1967) Ploiaria longa Maldonado, 1972 Ploiaria longiventris (Dohrn, 1863) Ploiaria maai Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria macrophthalma (Dohrn, 1860) Ploiaria maria Maldonado, 1948 Ploiaria matilei Dispons & Villiers, 1967 Ploiaria maya Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria media McAtee & Malloch, 1926 Ploiaria megalops (Champion, 1898) Ploiaria mellea McAtee & Malloch, 1926 Ploiaria metapterina Ploiaria mimeuri Villiers, 1943 Ploiaria modesta Montrouzier, 1865 Ploiaria montivaga Dispons, 1963 Ploiaria mosconai Wygodzinsky, 1952 Ploiaria moshesh Wygodzinsky, 1958 Ploiaria musgravei Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria nilotica Villiers, 1973 Ploiaria nitida McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria noualhieri Villiers, 1943 Ploiaria obscura Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria oculata (Villiers, 1949) Ploiaria pallida Montrouzier, 1855 Ploiaria palmarum Maldonado, 1974 Ploiaria paveli Ploiaria penai Wygodzinsky, 1954 Ploiaria phyllodoce Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960 Ploiaria pilicornis McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria plaumanni Wygodzinsky, 1966 Ploiaria poncei Maldonado, 1948 Ploiaria praedator (Champion, 1898) Ploiaria praesentans (Distant, 1909) Ploiaria punctipes McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria putoni Noualhier, 1895 Ploiaria recta McAtee & Malloch, 1926 Ploiaria regina Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria reticulata (Baker, 1910) Ploiaria rufoannulata (Bergroth, 1911) Ploiaria sachtlebeni Villiers, 1948 Ploiaria sefrana Dispons, 1960 Ploiaria setulifera McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria sexdentata Lindberg, 1932 Ploiaria sicaria McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria similis McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria sonoraensis (Van Duzee, 1923) Ploiaria soudanica Dispons, 1960 Ploiaria speluncaria Villiers, 1979 Ploiaria stysi Ploiaria texana N.Banks, 1909 Ploiaria thetis Wygodzinsky & Usinger, 1960 Ploiaria tibestina Villiers, 1982 Ploiaria tillandsiacola Maldonado & Brailovsky, 1983 Ploiaria tuberculata Villiers, 1949 Ploiaria turkestanica Putshkov, 1984 Ploiaria ultima McAtee & Malloch, 1966 Ploiaria umbrarum McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria uniseriata McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria vandoesburgi Redei, 2008 Ploiaria varipennis McAtee & Malloch, 1925 Ploiaria villiersi Maldonado, 1978 Ploiaria vincenti (Villiers, 1966) Ploiaria wahrmani Wygodzinsky, 1952 Ploiaria woodwardi Wygodzinsky, 1956 Ploiaria yunquensis Maldonado, 1948
References
http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Insecta/Hemiptera/Reduviidae/OTHER/species_list.Weirauch,_Christiane.20060306.org