Cantao (bug) explained

Cantao is a genus of true bugs in family Scutelleridae^[1] and tribe Scutellerini.

Description

Body elongate oval; head elongate, with nearly straight and carinate lateral margins; pronotum with posterolateral angles produced at base of scutellum; scutellum with a pair of deep foveae basally; peritreme large, occupying most of metapleurite, evaporatorium reduced.^[2]

Distribution

Distributed in Indomalaya, Wallacea, New Guinea and Australia. A doubtful species (Cantao africanus) has been reported from tropical Africa. A fossil species (tentatively placed into Cantao) was described from the middle Miocene of Tottori Prefecture, Honshu, Japan.^[2]

Species

As of February 2024, BioLib^[3] includes:

1. Cantao africanus Horváth, 1892
2. Cantao ocellatus (Thunberg, 1784)
3. Cantao purpuratus (Westwood, 1837)
4. Cantao parentum (White, 1839)
5. Cantao variabilis (Montrouzier, 1855)
6. † ?Cantao yamanai Fujiyama, 1967 (fossil)

Notes and References

1. McDonald, F. J. D. . 1988. A revision of Cantao Amyot and Serville (Hemiptera: Scutelleridae) . Oriental Insects . 22. 287–299 . 10.1080/00305316.1988.11835493.
2. Book: Jing-Fu Tsai. Dávid Rédei. Geng-Fang Yeh. Man-Miao Yang. amp. Jewel bugs of Taiwan (Heteroptera: Scutelleridae). National Chung Hsing University. 1991. 309. 978-9-8602-8723-3. 799436034.
3. https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id899899/ BioLib.cz