Abstract
The tribe Cardiastethini Carayon 1972 belongs in the family Anthocoridae (Heteroptera: Cimicomorpha). As with other anthocorid flower bugs, the members of the Cardiastethini prey on small arthropods. The predaceous habits of many anthocorids have attracted the attention of researchers who work in agro-ecosystems (e.g., biological control; Lattin 1999). The tribe Cardiastethini Carayon 1972 had been synonymized under the Dufouriellini Van Duzee 1916 (Stys 1975). Recently, Carpintero and Dellape (2008)transferred the genus Dufouriellius Kirkaldy 1906 (type genus for the tribe Dufouriellini) to the tribe Anthocorini Fieber 1836. Therefore, they reestablished the Cardiastethini (nom. restit), and proposed Dufouriellini as a junior synonym of the tribeAnthocorini Fieber 1836. Following this taxonomic change, all genera of the Dufouriellini, except for the Dufouriellius, were restored in the tribe Cardiastethini. After that revision, the Cardiastethini is now re-assigned at the tribal level, and is composed of 15 genera with a primarily tropical distribution (Carpintero and Dellape 2008).
NSTL