Peloridiidae

The Peloridiidae or moss bugs are a family of true bugs, comprising eighteen genera and thirty-four species. They are small, ranging in length from 2 to 4 mm, rarely seen, peculiarly lumpy, flattened bugs found in Patagonia (Argentina and Chile), New Zealand, eastern Australia, Lord Howe Island, and New Caledonia. Peloridiids are found amongst mosses and liverworts, commonly in association with southern beech forests. They have become known as moss bugs for their habit of feeding on mosses. They mostly feed on moss rhizoids, and also on wood-destroying fungi and lichens. Except for Pelori

Xenophysella is a genus of moss bug (Peloridiidae). The type species is Xenophysella stewartensis, found only on Stewart Island, off New Zealand.

species of insect

Hemiodoecus is a genus of moss bug. It was first identified from a northwestern Tasmania specimen by William Edward China in 1924, and Hemiodoecus leai became the type species. In 1982, Evans concluded that Hemiodoecus was, of known genera, the earliest evolved Australian genus of the Peloridiidae, based upon morphology and distribution. He further suggested that it gave rise to the genera Hemiowoodwardia and Hackeriella, both of which he had originally classified as Hemiodoecus.