Hemiptera is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, 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 piercing-sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.
The superfamily Cercopoidea, some members of which are called froghoppers and still others known as spittlebugs, are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, giving the group their common name, but many species are best known for their plant-sucking nymphs which produce foam shelters, and are referred to as "spittlebugs".
The Pentatomoidea are a superfamily of insects in the suborder Heteroptera of the order Hemiptera. As hemipterans, they possess a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The roughly 7000 species under Pentatomoidea are divided into 21 families. Among these are the stink bugs and shield bugs, jewel bugs, giant shield bugs, and burrower bugs.
The Auchenorrhyncha suborder of the Hemiptera contains most of the familiar members of what was called the "Homoptera" – groups such as cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and spittlebugs. The aphids and scale insects are the other well-known "Homoptera", and they are in the suborder Sternorrhyncha.
Cicadomorpha is an infraorder of the insect order Hemiptera which contains the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, and spittlebugs. There are approximately 35,000 described species worldwide. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, and many produce either audible sounds or substrate vibrations as a form of communication. The earliest fossils of cicadomorphs first appear during the Late Permian. Notable extinct members include the "giant cicadas" belonging to Palaeontinidae.
The superfamily Membracoidea of sap-sucking true-bugs includes two of the largest families within what used to be called the "Homoptera": the leafhoppers (Cicadellidae) and the treehoppers (Membracidae). The other families in this group are quite small, and have, at various points, generally been included as members within other families, though they are all presently considered to be valid, monophyletic groups. The relict family Myerslopiidae is restricted to New Zealand and South America while the Melizoderidae consist of two genera restricted to South America. The great diversity of Neotropical taxa suggests that the group originated in that region.
The family Derbidae is a large and diverse group of planthoppers, widely distributed in the tropics and also found in subtropical and temperate regions. It includes more than 150 genera and more than 1500 species. The adults suck the sap of plants while the nymphs live mainly in decaying organic matter, for example under the bark of dead tree trunks, feeding on fungi. In some groups of species the general structure of the insects is largely uniform, whereas in others like in the subfamily Otiocerinae various forms can be found. For example, the shape of the head, the antennae or the wings can differ considerably among genera and species.
Machaerotidae are a family of bugs in the superfamily Cercopoidea which were formerly placed within Cercopidae. They are sometimes called tube-forming spittle-bugs as the nymphs form a calcareous tube within which they live. These bugs are mainly found in the Old World tropics. The adults of many genera have a long, free and spine-like process originating from the scutellum and thus superficially similar to the tree-hoppers, Membracidae. The tegmen or forewing, like typical bugs of the suborder Heteroptera, always has a distinct, membranous apical area.
Cercopidae are the largest family of Cercopoidea, a xylem-feeding insect group, commonly called froghoppers. They belong to the hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha. A 2023 phylogenetic study of the family suggested the elevation of subfamily Ischnorhininae to full family status as Ischnorhinidae, leaving a monophyletic Cercopinae.
Aphrophora alni, the European alder spittle bug, is a species belonging to the family Aphrophoridae.
The Aphrophoridae or spittlebugs are a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera. There are at least 160 genera and 990 described species in Aphrophoridae.
Lophopidae is a family of fulgoroid plant-hoppers with most species found in tropical South America and Asia.
Clastopteridae is a family of spittlebugs in the order Hemiptera. There are at least 10 genera and 100 described species in Clastopteridae.
Prosapia ignipectus, known generally as the red-legged spittlebug or black spittlebug, is a species of froghopper in the family Cercopidae. It is found in North America. It measures about 8 mm (0.3 in) in length.
Prosapia is a genus of froghoppers in the family Cercopidae. There are about six described species in Prosapia. The genus is distributed in North and Central America, including the Caribbean.
Kanaima is a genus of froghoppers endemic to Brazil & Argentina belonging to the family Cercopidae.
Colobathristidae is a family of true bugs in the order Hemiptera. There are more than 20 genera and 90 described species in Colobathristidae.
Malcidae is a family of true bugs in the order Hemiptera. There are at least 4 genera and more than 40 described species in Malcidae.
Zelopsis nothofagi is a species of leafhopper than is endemic to New Zealand.
Sinoalidae is an extinct family of froghoppers known from the late Middle Jurassic to the early Late Cretaceous of Asia. They are one of two main Mesozoic families of froghoppers, alongside Procercopidae, unlike Procercopidae, Sinoalidae is thought to be an extinct side branch and not ancestral to modern froghoppers. Sinoalids have a temporally disjunct distribution being only known from the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Yanliao Biota of Inner Mongolia and the early Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) aged Burmese amber of Myanmar, separated by over 60 million years. The family is "recognized by its tegmen with the costal area and clavus commonly more sclerotized and punctate than the remaining part, and its hind tibia with two rows of lateral spines"
