Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term insect was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arachnids, myriapods, and crustaceans. This wider meaning may still be encountered in informal use.
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 stink bugs and shield bugs, jewel bugs, giant shield bugs, and burrower bugs.
Pyrrhocoridae is a family of insects with more than 300 species world-wide. Many are red coloured and are known as red bugs and some species are called cotton stainers because their feeding activities leave an indelible yellow-brownish stain on cotton crops. A common species in parts of Europe is the firebug, and its genus name Pyrrhocoris and the family name are derived from the Greek roots for fire "pyrrho-" and bug "coris". Members of this family are often confused with, but can be quickly separated from, Lygaeidae by the lack of ocelli on the top of the head.
The western conifer seed bug, also known as stink 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 Ontario, Québec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Michigan, Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and has become an accidental introduced species in parts of Europe and Argentina.
The Lygaeoidea are a sizeable superfamily of true bugs, containing seed bugs and allies, in the order Hemiptera. There are about 16 families and more than 4,600 described species in Lygaeoidea, found worldwide. Most feed on seeds or sap, but a few are predators.
The Lygaeidae are a family in the Hemiptera, with more than 110 genera in four subfamilies. The family is commonly referred to as seed bugs, and less commonly, milkweed bugs, or ground bugs. However, while many of the species feed on seeds, some feed on sap (mucivory) or seed pods, others are omnivores and a few, such as the wekiu bug, are carnivores that feed exclusively on insects. Insects in this family are distributed across the world. The family was vastly larger, but numerous former subfamilies have been removed and given independent family status, including the Artheneidae, Blissidae, Cryptorhamphidae, Cymidae, Geocoridae, Heterogastridae, Ninidae, Oxycarenidae and Rhyparochromidae, which together constituted well over half of the former family.
The brown marmorated stink bug is an insect in the family Pentatomidae, native to China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian regions. In September 1998, it was collected in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where it is believed to have been accidentally introduced. The nymphs and adults of the brown marmorated stink bug feed on over 100 species of plants, including many agricultural crops, and by 2010–11 had become a season-long pest in orchards in the Eastern United States. In 2010, in the Mid-Atlantic United States, $37 million in apple crops were lost, and some stone fruit growers lost more than 90% of their crops. Since the 2010s, the bug has spread to the nation of Georgia and Turkey and caused extensive damage to hazelnut production. It is now established in many parts of North America, and has recently become established in Europe and South America.
Serinethinae is a subfamily of the hemipteran family Rhopalidae, sometimes known as soapberry bugs. They are brightly colored seed-eaters, comprising three genera and about sixty-five species. These bugs are specialists on plants in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), which includes maples, balloon vines, and soapberry trees, among others. Seeds of the plants are the main resource used by adults for reproduction and nymphs for growth and development. Their diversity is the result of an adaptive radiation on these plants, whose cyanide-based defenses the bugs have overcome. The New World genus Jadera consists of nearly 20 species that range naturally from Kansas to southern Argentina. Boisea consists of 4 species, 1 in Africa, 1 in India, and 2 in North America, including the well-known box elder bug, Boisea trivittata. Leptocoris includes more than 40 species, in Oceania, Australia, Asia, and Africa.
Jadera haematoloma, the red-shouldered bug, goldenrain-tree bug or soapberry bug is a species of true bug that lives throughout the United States and south to northern South America. It feeds on seeds within the soapberry plant family, Sapindaceae, and is known to rapidly adapt to feeding on particular hosts. The species is often confused with boxelder bugs and lovebugs.
Coreus marginatus is a herbivorous species of true bug in the family Coreidae. It is commonly known as the dock bug as it feeds on the leaves and seeds of docks and sorrels. It is a medium-sized speckled brown insect, between 13 and 15 mm long as an adult, with a broad abdomen. It occurs throughout Europe, Asia and northern Africa. It is often found in dense vegetation, such as hedgerows and wasteland.
Stagonomus venustissimus, common name woundwort shieldbug, is a species of shieldbug belonging to the family Pentatomidae, subfamily Pentatominae.
Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, common name cotton seed bug, is a species of plant bug belonging to the family Lygaeidae, subfamily Oxycareninae.
Cosmopepla lintneriana, the twice-stabbed stink bug, is a species of insect in the family Pentatomidae. Cosmopepla lintneriana was first described in 1798 by Johan Christian Fabricius as Cimex carnifex, and then again in 1865 by Thomas Say as Cosmopepla bimaculata. Cosmopepla lintneriana is hosted by a variety of plants, including milk thistle, echinacea, asparagus, oats, mint and goldenrod, and is widespread throughout North America, from Canada to Mexico. Adult C. lintneriana are black with a red, orange, or yellow band across the pronotum and a short red stripe along the midline, and two red spots at the apex of the scutellum. Nymph coloration ranges from red to white with black markings that change as they grow.
Dysdercus koenigii is a species of true bug in the family Pyrrhocoridae, commonly known as the red cotton stainer. It is a serious pest of cotton crops, the adults and older nymphs feeding on the emerging bolls and the cotton seeds as they mature, transmitting cotton staining fungi as they do so.
Xanthochilus saturnius, the Mediterranean seed bug, is a species of true bugs belonging to the family Rhyparochromidae.
Rhyparochrominae is a subfamily of dirt-colored seed bugs in the family Rhyparochromidae. There are more than 410 genera and 2,000 described species in Rhyparochrominae.
Scantius aegyptius, the Mediterranean red bug, is a species of red bug in the family Pyrrhocoridae, that is a pest of plant species in the family Malvaceae.
Melanopleurus is a genus of seed bugs in the family Lygaeidae. There are more than 20 described species in the genus Melanopleurus.
Lygaeus kalmii, known as the small milkweed bug or common milkweed bug, is a species of seed bug in the family Lygaeidae. It is found in Central and North America.
Lygaeus turcicus, the false milkweed bug, is a species of seed bug in the family Lygaeidae. It is found in Eastern North America.
