Diet

• Adults and nymphs: Primarily plant feeders, using their piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant juices, particularly from seeds, flowers and developing plant tissues.

• Species of Corimelaena are associated with a variety of herbaceous plants, including grasses and other low-growing vegetation.

• The feeding habits of individual species are not well documented, and the genus is generally much less studied than many of the larger stink-bug groups.

Range

• Corimelaena is a genus of small ebony bugs in the family Thyreocoridae.

• The genus is primarily New World, with species occurring in North America, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America.

• They are occasionally sighted in Zihua, particularly in areas with suitable low vegetation.

Habitat

• Found in grasslands, open woodland, scrub, forest edges, meadows and disturbed vegetation.

• Many species are associated with ground-level vegetation, where their small size and dark colouration make them difficult to notice.

• Around Zihua, look among grasses, leaf litter and low-growing plants, particularly in open areas adjacent to tropical dry forest.

• Some species may also be encountered on flowers or seed-bearing plants.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 2–5 mm (0.08–0.2 in).

• Body very small, broad, rounded and strongly convex, giving many species a somewhat beetle-like appearance.

• Often black, dark brown or metallic, which accounts for the common name ebony bugs.

• The wings are largely concealed beneath the broad body, and in many species the margins of the forewings have contrasting pale areas.