• Animals Kingdom (Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

• Insects (Class Insecta)

• True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies (Order Hemiptera)

• True Bugs (Suborder Heteroptera)

• Flat Bugs (Family Aradidae)

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The family Aradidae, commonly known as the flat bugs, is a family of true bugs within the order Hemiptera. Fat bugs are named for their extremely flattened bodies, an adaptation that allows them to live beneath loose bark, within crevices of dead wood, and under decaying logs. Most species are brown, gray, or black, providing excellent camouflage against bark and wood surfaces. Unlike many other true bugs, aradids are primarily associated with fungi, feeding on fungal hyphae, spores, and tissues growing beneath bark or within decaying vegetation. Their piercing-sucking mouthparts are specialized for extracting nutrients from these fungal resources.