Serinethinae is a subfamily of the hemipteran family Rhopalidae, sometimes known as soapberry bugs.[1] They are brightly colored seed-eaters, comprising three genera and about sixty-five species. These bugs are specialists on plants in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), which includes maples, balloon vines, and soapberry trees, among others. Seeds of the plants are the main resource used by adults for reproduction and nymphs for growth and development. Their diversity is the result of an adaptive radiation on these plants, who have co-evolved defenses such as having their seeds contain cyanide, fly out, or be contained in hallow chambers.[2]
The Coreoidea Species File[3] includes:
Boisea consists of 4 species, 1 in Africa, 1 in India, and 2 in North America, including the well-known box elder bug, Boisea trivittata. Leptocoris includes more than 40 species, in Oceania, Australia, Asia, and Africa.[1] [3]
The New World genus Jadera consists of nearly 20 species that range naturally from Kansas to southern Argentina. Jadera haematoloma is a soapberry bug found in Florida known for its rapid adaptive evolution following the introduction of a non-native soapberry plant.[4]