Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm (0.04 in) to around 15 cm (6 in), and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Many insects commonly known as "bugs", especially in American English, belong to other orders; for example, the lovebug is a fly and the May bug and ladybug are beetles.
The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal alternative, since the heteropterans are most consistently and universally termed "bugs" among the Hemiptera. "Heteroptera" is Greek for "different wings": most species have forewings with both membranous and hardened portions ; members of the primitive sub-group Enicocephalomorpha have completely membranous wings.
The Pentatomoidea are a superfamily of insects in the Heteroptera suborder of the Hemiptera order. As Hemiptera, they share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The roughly 7000 species under Pentatomoidea are divided into 21 families. Among these are the shield bugs, giant shield bugs, burrower bugs, and stink bugs.
Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species. As hemipterans, the pentatomids have piercing sucking mouthparts, and most are phytophagous, including several species which are severe pests on agricultural crops. However, some species, particularly in the subfamily Asopinae, are predatory and may be considered beneficial.
The Gerridae are a family of insects in the order Hemiptera, commonly known as water striders, water skeeters, water scooters, water bugs, pond skaters, water skippers, Jesus bugs, or water skimmers. Consistent with the classification of the Gerridae as true bugs, gerrids have mouthparts evolved for piercing and sucking, and distinguish themselves by having the unusual ability to walk on water, making them pleuston (surface-living) animals. They are anatomically built to transfer their weight to be able to run on top of the water's surface. As a result, one could likely find water striders present in any pond, river, or lake. Over 1,700 species of gerrids have been described, 10% of them being marine.
The western conifer seed bug, sometimes abbreviated as WCSB, is a species of true bug (Hemiptera) in the family Coreidae. It is native to North America west of the Rocky Mountains but has in recent times expanded its range to eastern North America, to include Nova Scotia, Maine, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and has become an accidental introduced species in parts of Europe.
Coreidae is a large family of predominantly sap-suckling insects in the Hemipteran suborder Heteroptera. The name "Coreidae" derives from the genus Coreus, which derives from the Ancient Greek κόρις (kóris) meaning bedbug.
Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of other woodlice families, members of this family can roll into a ball, an ability they share with the outwardly similar but unrelated pill millipedes and other animals. This ability gives woodlice in this family their common names of pill bugs or roly polies. Other common names include slaters,potato bugs, and doodle bugs. The best known species in the family is Armadillidium vulgare, the common pill bug. Pill bugs are native to Europe, wherefrom they were introduced to the Americas.
Nepidae is a family of exclusively aquatic Heteropteran insects in the order Hemiptera. They are commonly called water scorpions for their superficial resemblance to scorpions, due to their raptorial forelegs and the presence of a long slender process at the posterior end of the abdomen, resembling a tail. There are 14 genera in the family, in two subfamilies, Nepinae and Ranatrinae. Members of the genus Ranatra, the most widespread and species-rich genus, are sometimes called needle bugs or water stick insects as they are slenderer than Nepa.
Belostomatidae is a family of freshwater hemipteran insects known as giant water bugs or colloquially as toe-biters, Indian toe-biters, electric-light bugs, alligator ticks, or alligator fleas. They are the largest insects in the order Hemiptera. There are about 170 species found in freshwater habitats worldwide, with more than 110 in the Neotropics, more than 20 in Africa, almost as many in the Nearctic, and far fewer elsewhere. These predators are typically encountered in freshwater ponds, marshes and slow-flowing streams. Most species are at least 2 cm (0.8 in) long, although smaller species, down to 0.9 cm (0.35 in), also exist. The largest are members of the genus Lethocerus, which can exceed 12 cm (4.5 in) and nearly reach the length of some of the largest beetles in the world. Giant water bugs are a popular food in parts of Asia.
Nepomorpha is an infraorder of insects in the "true bug" order (Hemiptera). They belong to the "typical" bugs of the suborder Heteroptera. Due to their aquatic habits, these animals are known as true water bugs. They occur all over the world outside the polar regions, with about 2,000 species altogether. The Nepomorpha can be distinguished from related Heteroptera by their missing or vestigial ocelli. Also, as referred to by the obsolete name Cryptocerata, their antennae are reduced, with weak muscles, and usually carried tucked against the head.
Leptopodomorpha is an infraorder of insects in the order Hemiptera. Leptopodomorpha is an infraorder of the order Heteroptera that contains more than 380 species. These small insects are also called shore bugs, or spiny shore bugs. As their name suggests, shore bugs range from being intertidal, to living near streams and lakes. Four families belong to this infraorder, the largest of which is Saldidae with about 350 species, compared to about 30 in Leptopodidae, and only 5 and 1 in Omaniidae and Aepophilidae respectively. Saldidae are known in particular for their jumping ability.
The Pentatomomorpha comprise an infraorder of insects in the true bug order Hemiptera. It unites such animals as the stink bugs (Pentatomidae), flat bugs (Aradidae), seed bugs, etc. They are closely related to the Cimicomorpha.
The green stink bug or green soldier bug is a stink bug of the family Pentatomidae.
Hydrometridae is a family of semiaquatic insects, known as marsh treaders or water measurers. They have a characteristic elongated head and body which makes them resemble a yardstick for measuring the water surface.
Graphosoma italicum is a species of shield bug in the family Pentatomidae. It is also known as the Striped bug and Minstrel bug.
Halobates or sea skaters are a genus with over 40 species of water striders. Most Halobates species are coastal and typically found in sheltered marine habitats, but five live on the surface of the open ocean and only occur near the coast when storms blow them ashore. These are the only known truly oceanic, offshore insects. They are found in tropical and subtropical marine habitats around the world, with a single species recorded in rivers a few kilometers upstream from the ocean. Halobates are generally very common.
Paraneoptera or Acercaria is a superorder of insects which includes lice, thrips, and hemipterans, the true bugs. It also includes the extinct order Permopsocida, known from fossils dating from the Early Permian to the mid-Cretaceous.
Mormidea lugens is a species of stink bug in the family Pentatomidae found in the Caribbean, Central America, and Eastern North America. In Illinois, adults have been observed emerging from overwintering sites in late April, and continue to be observed until early November, and appear to be bivoltine in this area. Eggs are approximately 0.7 millimetres (0.028 in) in diameter, pale yellow, and laid in small clusters of 6 to 11 eggs. Adults are bronze in color, with a white-yellow border around the scutellum, and are 5.0–7.2 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in) in length. In laboratory conditions, at approximately 24 °C (75 °F), development from eggs to adults has been documented to take between 39 and 50 days, and appears to be affected by the species of host plant. Mormidea lugens has been documented to feed on timothy, sedges, as well as deer-tongue grass, and Bosc's panic-grass. It has been collected from pale sedge and wide-leaved spiderwort but has not observed feeding on these species, and deer-tongue grass appears to be an insufficient food source for development.
Megatibicen pronotalis, or Walker's cicada, is a species of cicada in the family Cicadidae. It is found in the northern Great Plains of the United States.
