Phymata americana

Phymata americana is a Phymatinae, or ambush bug in the family Reduviidae.[1][2][3][4] It can be found on the flowers of various plants[5] in Central America and North America,[1] where it waits to prey on other insects.[5]

Phymata americana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hemiptera
Family: Reduviidae
Genus: Phymata
Species:
P. americana
Binomial name
Phymata americana
Melin, 1930

Subspecies

These four subspecies belong to the species Phymata americana:

  • Phymata americana americana Melin, 1930 i c g b
  • Phymata americana coloradensis Melin, 1930 i c g b
  • Phymata americana metcalfi Evans, 1931 i c g b
  • Phymata americana obscura Kormilev, 1957 i c g

Data sources: i = ITIS,[1] c = Catalogue of Life,[2] g = GBIF,[3] b = Bugguide.net[4]

Habitat

Phymata americana are found in open fields of flowering plants near rural forest edges, farms, and urban areas.[6]

Camouflage and color polymorphism

Although P. americana can be found on many species of flowering plants, they tend to prefer either yellow or blue flowers over red or white flowers.[7] Variation in flower color choice may reflect individual variation in P. americana color pattern, where individuals prefer flowers which match their own body color.[5] This habitat-matching behavior may confer benefits for increased camouflage and prey capture ability.[5] However, increased camouflage can also be achieved through a small degree of phenotypic plasticity in color pattern (i.e. color changing ability).[5]

Diet and predation behavior

Phymata americana feed on a wide variety of prey, most often including small bees, moths, and flies.[8][9] As their common name suggests, P. americana are sit-and-wait ambush predators, resting on flower heads where they grab visiting insects with large raptorial foreleg weapons.[5][8][9] Females can be larger than males, and often have disproportionately longer weapons.[9] Sexual dimorphism in weapon morphology in P. americana may have evolved due to sex differences in prey capture strategies, with females capturing prey from underneath flower heads and males either eating prey already captured by females or capturing smaller prey on plant stems while searching for mates.[10] Females tend to capture larger prey species than males due to their larger weapons, potentially decreasing intersexual resource competition.[9]

Mating and reproduction

Mating behavior

Phymata americana males actively search for females.[11][12] After finding and mounting the female, males produce tactile and stridulatory courtship behaviors thought to be assessed by the female during mate choice decisions.[11][12] During this time, males may also guard the female from competitors.[11]

Sexual selection on color pattern

Phymata americana show sexual dimorphism in size and color pattern.[9][11][13][14][15] Males tend to be darker than females, although only as adults.[13] Additionally, the degree of coloration is condition dependent, with increased food availability resulting in darker males and females.[13] Although many sexually dichromatic species use color signals in elaborate courtship displays, color patterns in P. americana do not appear to be involved in signalling behavior to rivals or potential mates.[11]

Darker males absorb more radiative heat and as a consequence heat faster and reach hotter temperatures than lighter males.[14] Because this allows darker males to find mates more quickly (potentially due to the thermal sensitivity of muscle function[14]), darker males are favored by intrasexual selection in cooler climates.[11][13][14] However, darker coloration in males is less advantageous under hotter environmental conditions because it can increase heat stress.[14] In addition to environmental temperature, the strength of sexual selection on color pattern depends on demography, with strongest selection occurring when male-to-female sex ratio is low and at high densities.[15]

References
  1. "Phymata americana Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  2. "Phymata americana species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  3. "Phymata americana". GBIF. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  4. "Phymata americana Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  5. Boyle, Julia; Start, Denon (2020-02-03). Galván, Ismael (ed.). "Plasticity and habitat choice match colour to function in an ambush bug". Functional Ecology. 34 (4): 1365–2435.13528. doi:10.1111/1365-2435.13528. ISSN 0269-8463.
  6. Mason, L. G. (1973-09-01). "The Habitat and Phenetic Variation in Phymata Americana Melin (Heteroptera)". Systematic Biology. 22 (3): 271–279. doi:10.1093/sysbio/22.3.271. ISSN 1063-5157.
  7. Greco, Carlos F.; Kevan, Peter G. (1994-09-01). "Contrasting patch choosing by anthophilous ambush predators: vegetation and floral cues for decisions by a crab spider ( Misumena vatia ) and males and females of an ambush bug ( Phymata americana )". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 72 (9): 1583–1588. doi:10.1139/z94-210. ISSN 0008-4301.
  8. Balduf, W. V. (1947-12-01). "The Weights of Phymata Pennsylvania Americana Melin (Phymatidae, Hemiptera)1". Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 40 (4): 576–587. doi:10.1093/aesa/40.4.576. ISSN 1938-2901.
  9. Mason, L. G. (April 1977). "Prey Preferences and Ecological Sexual Dimorphism in Phymata americana Melin". American Midland Naturalist. 97 (2): 293–299. doi:10.2307/2425095. ISSN 0003-0031. JSTOR 2425095.
  10. Mason, L. G. (October 1986). "Free-Loaders, Free-Lancers and Bushwhackers: Sexual Dimorphism and Seasonal Changes in Prey-Capture Behavior of Ambush Bugs". American Midland Naturalist. 116 (2): 323–328. doi:10.2307/2425740. ISSN 0003-0031. JSTOR 2425740.
  11. Punzalan, D.; Rodd, F. H.; Rowe, L. (2008-07-01). "Contemporary sexual selection on sexually dimorphic traits in the ambush bug Phymata americana". Behavioral Ecology. 19 (4): 860–870. doi:10.1093/beheco/arn042. ISSN 1045-2249.
  12. Punzalan, David; Rowe, Locke (April 2017). "Hybridisation and lack of prezygotic barriers between Phymata pennsylvanica and americana: Hybridisation between Phymata species". Ecological Entomology. 42 (2): 210–220. doi:10.1111/een.12380.
  13. Punzalan, D.; Cooray, M.; Helen Rodd, F.; Rowe, L. (September 2008). "Condition dependence of sexually dimorphic colouration and longevity in the ambush bug Phymata americana". Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 21 (5): 1297–1306. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2008.01571.x. PMID 18631280.
  14. Punzalan, David; Rodd, F. Helen; Rowe, Locke (2008-03-07). "Sexual selection mediated by the thermoregulatory effects of male colour pattern in the ambush bug Phymata americana". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 275 (1634): 483–492. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.1585. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 2596820. PMID 18089533.
  15. Punzalan, David; Rodd, F. Helen; Rowe, Locke (April 2010). "Temporally Variable Multivariate Sexual Selection on Sexually Dimorphic Traits in a Wild Insect Population". The American Naturalist. 175 (4): 401–414. doi:10.1086/650719. ISSN 0003-0147. PMID 20184443.

Further reading
  • Péricart, J.; Golub, V. B. (1996). Aukema, Berend; Rieger, Christian (eds.). Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region, Vol. 2: Cimicomorpha I. The Netherlands Entomological Society. ISBN 978-90-71912-15-3.
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