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.
Homoptera is a suborder of order Hemiptera that is considered by some taxonomists to be paraphyletic, and therefore deprecated (obsolete). It was therefore split into the suborders Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha, and Coleorrhyncha. The earlier work was based on nuclear DNA, but more recent phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA suggest that Homoptera may be a monophyletic group after all, a sister group of Heteroptera. The cause of the disparity in the analyses is suggested to be the long branch attraction effect in phylogenetic analysis, due to rapidly evolving DNA regions.
The froghoppers, or the superfamily Cercopoidea, 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 glassy-winged sharpshooter is a large leafhopper, similar to other species of sharpshooter.
Treehoppers and thorn bugs are members of the family Membracidae, a group of insects related to the cicadas and the leafhoppers. About 3,200 species of treehoppers in over 400 genera are known. They are found on all continents except Antarctica; only five species are known from Europe. Individual treehoppers usually live for only a few months.
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, 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. Almost all Peloridiidae species are flightless, except one. Their present distribution suggests they have existed since before the breakup of Gondwana. They are the only living members of the suborder Coleorrhyncha, which first appeared in the Upper Permian, over 250 million years ago.
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.
Brochosomes are intricately structured microscopic granules secreted by leafhoppers and typically found on their body surface and, more rarely, eggs. Brochosomes were first described in 1952 with the aid of an electron microscope. Brochosomes are hydrophobic and help keep the insect cuticle clean. These particles have also been found in samples of air and can easily contaminate foreign objects, which explains erroneous reports of brochosomes on other insects.
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.
A planthopper is any insect in the infraorder Fulgoromorpha, in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha, a group exceeding 12,500 described species worldwide. The name comes from their remarkable resemblance to leaves and other plants of their environment and that they often "hop" for quick transportation in a similar way to that of grasshoppers. However, planthoppers generally walk very slowly. Distributed worldwide, all members of this group are plant-feeders, though few are considered pests. The infraorder contains only a single superfamily, Fulgoroidea. Fulgoroids are most reliably distinguished from the other Auchenorrhyncha by two features; the bifurcate (Y-shaped) anal vein in the forewing, and the thickened, three-segmented antennae, with a generally round or egg-shaped second segment (pedicel) that bears a fine filamentous arista.
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.
David Allan Young Jr., was an American entomologist who specialized in the taxonomy of the Cicadellidae and authored a comprehensive treatment of the family with numerous genera and species described and named by him. This work in three parts Taxonomic Study of the Cicadellinae covered 292 genera.
The common brown leafhopper is one of the most common species of Australian leafhoppers with a very wide host range. It is an important vector of several viruses and phytoplasmas worldwide. In Australia, phytoplasmas vectored by O. orientalis cause a range of economically important diseases including legume little leaf, tomato big bud, lucerne witches broom, potato purple top wilt, Australian lucerne and the insect is a possible vector of Australian grapevine yellows. O. orientalis also transmits Tobacco yellow dwarf virus to beans, causing bean summer death disease and to tobacco, causing tobacco yellow dwarf disease.
Oncometopia is a genus of sharpshooters found in North and South America. The genus was erected by Carl Stål in 1869.
Empoasca decipiens is a species of leafhopper belonging to the family Cicadellidae subfamily Typhlocybinae. The adults reach 3–4 millimetres (0.12–0.16 in) of length and a are homogenously green with whitish markings on its pronotum and vertex. E. decipiens is commonly referred to as the “green leafhopper” because of its colouration. The absence of clear stripes along the forewings can easily distinguish it from the similar leafhopper species E. vitis, but distinguishing it from other leafhoppers with the same colouration requires examination under a microscope. It is present in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, in North Africa, in the Near East, and in the Afrotropical realm. Both nymphs and adults of this small insect are considered to be a very destructive pests on field crops, vegetables and greenhouse plants.
Centrotus cornutus (thorn-hopper) is a species of "treehoppers" belonging to the family Membracidae.
Japananus hyalinus, the Japanese maple leafhopper, is a species of leafhopper of the subfamily Deltocephalinae and tribe Opsiini. Believed to be native to eastern Asia, it has been carried with the trade in cultivated maples and is now widely found in Europe, North America and Australia.
Alebrini is a leafhopper tribe in the subfamily Typhlocybinae.
Corn stunt disease is a bacterial disease of corn and other grasses. Symptoms include stunted growth and leaves turning red. It is caused by the bacterium Spiroplasma kunkelii.
Aetalionidae are a family of treehoppers in the superfamily Membracoidea. Aetalionidae are somewhat like Membracidae in that they have one to three rows of short spines on the hind tibia but differ in having the front femur fused to the trochanter and the scutellum is completely exposed. The females have finger-like protrusions on the genital capsule. The family is mostly Neotropical. The subfamily Biturritiinae is Neotropical while the subfamily Aetalioninae has a Neotropical genus Aetalion and the sole Old World representative genus Darthula with a single species Darthula hardwickii.
