Lyramorpha is a genus of stink bugs in the family Tessaratomidae, subfamily Oncomerinae. It is known from Australia and New Guinea.[1][2][3]
As oncomerine insects, the life cycle of Lyramorpha consists of the three stages of egg, nymph and adult. Eggs are barrel-shaped and are laid in groups of 40-42. From these hatch first-instar nymphs, which are soft, semi-globular in shape and slow-moving. Intermediate stage nymphs are extremely flattened in shape, allowing them to lie flat against leaves with the vulnerable legs under the body. Nymphs also have a pair of scent glands on top of their bodies, from which they produce a pungent liquid if disturbed.[4]
According to the original genus description, Lyramorpha adults have a very depressed body with an elongate and tapering abdomen. The head is small. The antennae are slender and 4-segmented. The rostrum extends to the bases of the midlegs. The thorax is depressed with the posterior margin produced a little above the scutellum. The scutellum is elongate and triangular with an acute tip, and in the middle is a raised longitudinal costa. The mesosternum is extended anteriorly into a small keel between the anterior legs. The ventral side of the abdomen is extended anteriorly into a sharp spine underneath the metasternum and mesosternum. The posterior end is produced into two diverging teeth.[5]
In at least two species, L. rosea and L. parens, the first and second instars are chequered red and black, changing to a uniform red in later instars.[6]
Both adults and the later instars of nymphs have a pair of points at the posterior end of the body, which can be seen in photographs.[1][6]
Lyramorpha are active during the day (diurnal) and live on plants, from which they suck the sap.[7] The two Australian species, L. rosea and L. parens, feed exclusively on plants in the family Sapindaceae.[6]
Older nymphs of L. parens are gregarious, feeding in groups and travelling as groups to new feeding sites. While travelling, they may occur on non-host plants.[6]
Females of some species in this genus are known to care for their offspring. Lyramorpha rosea broods eggs in clutches of up to 42, and there is one record of a L. parens brooding 40 eggs.[4]
Lyramorpha parens continues brooding its offspring until at least the second nymphal instar.[6] Another Lyramorpha species, possibly L. maculifer, has been observed brooding first-instar[8] and second-instar nymphs.[9]
The species in genus Lyramorpha are:[1][10]
Lyramorpha is a genus of stink bugs in the family Tessaratomidae, subfamily Oncomerinae. It is known from Australia and New Guinea.
