Fun Rhyparochromidae Facts For Kids

Rhyparochromidae is a family of true bugs which can be found in places all over the world but mainly in Northern America. Their name was derived from the Greek words 'Rhyparos' and 'Chromus' which mean dirt and color respectively. Hence, these groups of bugs are often referred to as dirt-colored seed bugs.

These dirt-colored seed bugs are typically seen in human households hiding under debris or in wall cracks. These bugs are hence often responsible for various bugs and pest-related problems for people. However, in the wild, these bugs are seen around trees like pine trees or even small shrubs and bushes.

If you like reading insect facts, be sure to check out our Morpho butterfly and purple emperor butterfly facts.

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What type of animal is a Rhyparochromidae?

These dirt-colored seed bugs like most of the other fellow arthropods happen to be insects. These are often seen eating and developing their bodies by consuming seeds from various plants. There happen to various types of these bugs out there in the wild which can be differentiated from one another depending upon factors like their superfamily which in the case of the dirt-colored seed bug is Lygaeoidea, what subordinate family they are from, which genera they belong to, where can they be commonly found and many other such factors.

What class of animal does a Rhyparochromidae belong to?

Like most of the other species of bugs out there, the members of the Rhyparochromidae family also known as the dirt-colored seed bugs, belong to the class of Insecta of the animal kingdom. The insects happen to fall under the phylum Arthropoda of the order Hemiptera and the superfamily of Lygaeoidea.

How many Rhyparochromidaes are there in the world?

Dirt-colored seed bugs have a huge population spread out around the world and there happens to be a great number of these bugs in the wild. To this date, around 2100 species of bugs of the family Rhyparochromidae have been discovered. The two major subfamilies of these bugs are Rhyparochrominae or Plinthisinae both of which belong to the family Rhyparochromidae and superfamily Lygaeoidea. Also, there exist 420 genera of this species which is a lot as compared to other bugs!

Where does a Rhyparochromidae live?

Dirt-colored seed bugs of the family Rhyparochromidae are seen living in places like farms, or bushes and shrubs. These bugs like some species of the family of true bugs called Heteroptera of the order Hemiptera of phylum Arthropoda can also be seen on living trees such as the pine tree. During winters, the dirt-colored seed is seen living in human houses typically in the cracks in walls.

What is a Rhyparochromidae's habitat?

Dirt-colored seed bugs of the family Rhyparochromidae prefer living on trees or shrub types of habitats. They can be seen eating and feeding on seeds of plants like Dogwood or Sumac. Rhyparochromidae habitat changes depending upon the weather. During winters they prefer living in houses, during this time they don't feed or breed either. They produce energy for themselves by converting it from the fat reserves available in their bodies.

Who do Rhyparochromidaes live with?

The bugs of the family Rhyparochromidae prefer living on their own like many other true bugs such as the Heteroptera bugs.

How long does a Rhyparochromidae live?

Rhyparochromidae life span isn't as long as many other bugs. These only give birth to a single generation of bugs a year. The female bugs of this species lay eggs around May and these eggs hatch and become full-grown adults by August. During winters these bugs go hide in cracks of walls or other areas where they can shelter themselves. Most of the bugs of family Rhyparochromidae die out by the time winter comes.

How do they reproduce?

The bugs of family Rhyparochromidae reproduce during their mating season which happens to be during spring. The female lays eggs and these eggs eventually hatch out in a couple of weeks. The bugs become fully grown adults within five to six weeks of time.

What is their conservation status?

The IUCN hasn't listed the conservation status of the Rhyparochromidae seed bugs as of yet.

What do Rhyparochromidaes look like?

The bugs belonging to Rhyparochromidae and its subfamilies are usually brown in color. Due to sunlight, their shiny exoskeleton may sometimes look as if it's bronze. Although some of the bugs from different tribes or genera, in this case, may be almost as big as 1 in (2.54 cm), usually these bugs happen to be much smaller than it. These bugs have big bulgy eyes and six appendages. Some of these bugs may even be green in color depending on the subfamilies the bugs belong in.

How cute are they?

Rare are those people who would find the appearance of this bug cute, as most humans would just want to get rid of these bugs from their houses as soon as they come across one!

How do they communicate?

There have been various studies conducted on different bugs of the Rhyparochromidae tribes, they show that the different genera of these bugs communicate via the use of vibratory signals. The antennas on the head of these bugs come in handy in assisting them while communicating.

How big is a Rhyparochromidae?

An adult Rhyparochromidae seed bug can grow up to 0.4 in (1 cm) in size which happens to be significantly lesser than the size of an average bug such as the dung beetle, which happens to be three times larger than these seed bugs.

How fast can Rhyparochromidaes fly?

The Rhyparochromidae seed bugs depending upon their genera have the ability to just crawl or fly, however, these fly pretty slow.

How much does a Rhyparochromidae weigh?

The Rhyparochromidae size is much smaller than other bug species. These small bugs weigh just as much as a western conifer seed bug.

What are the male and female names of the species?

Although the female bugs can be differentiated from the male seed bugs by their reproductive organs depending upon the genera of the bug, there isn't a special name for either of the genders of the seed bugs.

What would you call a baby Rhyparochromidae?

The baby seed bugs of this family are usually referred to as 'nymphs' after they hatch from their eggs.

What do they eat?

The Rhyparochromidae diet includes seeds of fertilized flowers and these dirt-colored brown seed bugs can be seen eating them around plants like Dogwood or Sumac.

Are they dangerous?

If looked at from a distance, these bugs may look similar to the Brown recluse spider which generally happens to be poisonous and harmful but these bugs are in no way related to them and pose no danger towards human life or plant life.

Would they make a good pet?

No, they would not make a good pet since they are insects.

Did you know...

The Rhypochromidae is a big family of bugs and even though it is natively seen mostly in North America, The Rhyparochromidae distribution happens to be widespread all over the world and chances are that you might see this tiny bug on your next hike if you know where to search for them!

These bugs can often be confused to be baby beetles specifically baby Hercules beetles due to their shape and size.

Why are they called seed bugs?

This genera of bugs have often been seen blending in the soil and camouflaging around flowers and shrubs, they also look kind of like seeds, and coincidently enough, their primary diet includes seeds as well. Hence these bugs are called seed bugs or dirt-colored seed bugs.

Types of bugs in the Rhyparochromidae family?

The Rhyparochromidae is a vast family of bugs and there actually happen to be two subfamilies which themselves include over 420 genera and 2100 species of seed bugs!

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these lace bug facts and Elm seed bug facts pages.  

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Rhyparochromidae coloring pages.

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