page_title: Tessaratomidae
section_title: Maternal care
hierarchical_section_title: Tessaratomidae / Ecology / Maternal care
caption_attribution_description: Pycanum rubens (nymph), gunung mulu national park, sarawak, malaysia 2
context_page_description: Tessaratomidae is a family of true bugs. It contains about 240 species of large bugs divided into 3 subfamilies and 56 genera.
  Tessaratomids resemble large stink bugs and are sometimes quite colorful. Most tessaratomids are Old World, with only three species known from the Neotropics. Some members of Tessaratomidae exhibit maternal care of eggs and offspring. The defensive chemicals of certain species can cause significant damage if they come into contact with human skin; they may also cause temporary blindness.
  All species are exclusively plant-eaters, some of major economic importance as agricultural pests. A few species are also consumed as human food in some countries.
context_section_description: Maternal care is a well-documented presocial behavior among tessaratomids. Egg guarding by adult females were first observed in 1991 by S. Tachikawa among Japanese species of the genera Pygoplatys (subfamily Tessaratominae) and Erga (subfamily Oncomerinae).
  In 1998, Gogala et al. described tessaratomines of the genus Pygoplatys from Thailand and Malaysia showing egg guarding behavior. In addition, they were also observed to exhibit another remarkable maternal behavior. A dense cluster of small nymphs were  photographed being carried around by adult females. The nymphs were firmly clutching unto the bottom side of the abdomens of the adults and to each other, forming a compact mass. The females seem unimpeded by their burden and were able to walk around normally and even fly. The nymphs, however, were not observed feeding. This behavior is known as "nymphal phoresy" (used adjectivally as "phoretic").
  In the Indonesian species Pygoplatys tenangau, females will cover the clutch of 70 to 120 eggs with their bodies after laying them, literally "standing guard" over them. When approached, they will spray defensive liquid at perceived attackers and may buzz their wings. They will not willingly abandon the eggs they are guarding, however, and if picked up will try to hold unto the leaf where their eggs are attached. It usually takes slightly more than two weeks for the eggs to hatch. The hatching process will take up 3 to 4 days, during which the newly hatched nymphs will immediately clamber unto their mother's abdomen. They were observed to remain phoretic for at least 17 days (Magnien et al., 2008).
  In the subfamily Oncomerinae, a predominantly Australian group of large colorful bugs, brooding behavior varies from species which do not practice it at all (exhibited by Musgraveia sulciventris) to adult females carrying first and second instar nymphs on their abdomens.
  Adult female oncomerines of the genus Lyramorpha will guard nymphs at least to the second instar.
  Oncomerines of the genera Cumare, Garceus, and Peltocopta exhibit the most advanced form of maternal care. Like the previously described Southeast Asian Pygoplatys individuals, the females actually carry young nymphs around on their abdomens. As the nymphs grow older, they eventually separate from their mothers, lose their bright colors, and become more solitary prior to molting into adults. Species which exhibit this behavior often have significantly flattened and expanded abdomens.
  Of the Australian oncomerines, the bronze orange bug (Musgraveia sulciventris) is the only species unequivocally documented to lack maternal brooding behavior. This peculiarity might be connected to the unreliability of the food plant availability for the species (Monteith, 2011). Unlike other oncomerines who can only lay one egg clutch for the certain amount of time it takes to care for them, M. sulciventris can produce multiple egg clutches rapidly because females don't have to care for them. This allows M. sulciventris to rapidly expand their population when conditions are favorable.
caption: The brilliantly colored and strangely shaped nymphs of Pycanum rubens bear little resemblance to the adults.
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