Cydnidae


Cydnidae are a family of shield bugs, known by common names including burrowing bugs or burrower bugs. In some older classifications, Cydnidae, sensu lato includes the subfamily Thyreocorinae, which are known commonly as negro bugs, or ebony bugs, and/or the families Thaumastellidae and Parastrachiidae. Though similar in appearance to a beetle at casual glance, they can be distinguished by both their piercing/sucking mouthparts, and wing configuration. Of some 750 species of burrower bugs, 27 are reported as crop pests, and six species are thought to feed on peanut.
In Goiás the flocks are observed in the rainy season, November to March, which coincide with the period in which adults of these insects are found in the soil. Currently the southwestern region of Goiás is the most attacked, south and southeast, in cotton, soybean, maize and pasture crops. Among the damages caused by the insect in the plant are: uneven growth of the plant, reduced growth, root lesions, large amount of dry leaves, reddish leaf, yellowing and subsequent dry; reduction of the stand, yellowing of the leaves and reduction of productivity.

Selected species