- Source: Joppeicus
Joppeicus paradoxus is a predatory heteropteran bug and the only member of the genus Joppeicus and the family Joppeicidae. Adults are ~3 mm long.
Ecology
J.paradoxus has been described as living in «gardens, fields, planted woods, street alleys» along the Nile River and also caves, rock crevices of the nearby desert or semidesert regions. It can be found under bark, herbs, leaf litter, stones, litter, or even among mammalian feces and burrows of the rodent genus Meriones.
It feeds on a variety of small arthropods, such as coleopteran larvae and adults, ants, other heteropterans, spiders and ticks.
Behaviour
It is quite active, runs quickly and tends to avoid light during the day.
Distribution
It has been originally described from Jaffa and documented from Israel and in Egypt and Sudan along the Nile and Ethiopia. It has recently been found in Fuerteventura and Socotra and even in a bean storage area in Thailand.
Systematics
A molecular genetics study in 2022 recovered Joppeicidae within Cimicomorpha as the closest relative of family Microphysidae, forming together the clade Microphysoidea. Another study in 2023 instead recovers Joppeicidae as the earliest diverging group of Cimiciformes.
Importance to humans
J.paradoxus has been investigated as a potential biocontrol insect against insect pests affecting food storage, such as Tribolium confusum.