Hotea is a genus of African and Asian shield-backed bugs belonging to the family Scutelleridae.

Hotea
Hotea curculionoides
Scientific classification
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Hotea

Amyot & Serville, 1843

Species

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[1]

Description

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Male jewel bugs of the genus Hotea possess an unusually large, spiky, and heavily sclerotized genitalia. They are used in a mating practice known as traumatic insemination, a result of evolutionary sexual conflict. Male Hotea bugs tear through the female reproductive ducts to deposit sperm, inflicting substantial damage to the female in the process.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Biolib
  2. ^ Göran Arnqvist & Locke Rowe (2005). Sexual conflict Princeton University Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-691-12218-2.