Food Plants of the Coreoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)

Food plant records are tabulated for five coreoid families, and feeding preferences are analyzed within the Coreinae (Coreidae). With the exception of the Coreinae, food plant associations are characteristic at the subfamily or tribal level. Within the Coreinae, no clear pattern of food plant preference can be discerned. Angiosperms are preferred over gymnosperms, dicots over monocots; but members of all six dicot subclasses are used as food plants. Comparison among the dicot subclasses, weighted to equalize plant group size, shows Caryophyllidae to be the most preferred group, with Magnoliidae and Asteridae least preferred. A dichotomy in use of plant parts is apparent; reproductive organs are preferred by some groups, whereas vascular feeding on vegetative parts is characteristic of others. Breadth of diet, however, is highly variable, ranging from extreme polyphagy to restricted feeding on a single plant species.