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 firebug, Pyrrhocoris apterus, is a common insect of the family Pyrrhocoridae. Easily recognizable due to its striking red and black coloration, it may be confused with the similarly coloured though unrelated Corizus hyoscyami. Pyrrhocoris apterus is distributed throughout the Palaearctic from the Atlantic coast of Europe to northwest China. It has also been reported from the United States, Central America, and India, and is also found in Australia. It has been reported as recently expanding its distribution northwards into mainland United Kingdom and eastward on to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. They are frequently observed to form aggregations, especially as immature forms, containing from tens to perhaps a hundred individuals.
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.
Coriobacterium is a genus of Actinomycetota, in the family Coriobacteriaceae. Coriobacterium are non-motile, Gram-positive, non-sporulating rods, which inhabit the gastrointestinal tract of firebugs. Up to now there is only on species of this genus known
Nosema is a genus of microsporidian parasites. The genus, circumscribed by Swiss botanist Carl Nägeli in 1857, contains 81 species. Most parasitise insects and other arthropods, and the best-known Nosema species parasitise honeybees, where they are considered a significant disease by beekeepers, often causing a colony to fail to thrive in the spring as they come out of their overwintering period. Eight species parasitize digeneans, a group of parasitic flatworms, and thus are hyperparasites, i.e., parasites of a parasite.
Corizus hyoscyami is a species of scentless plant bug belonging to the family Rhopalidae, subfamily Rhopalinae. It is commonly called the cinnamon bug or black and red squash bug.
Hermann Paul August Otto Henking was a German cytologist who discovered the X chromosome in 1890 or 1891. The work was the result of a study in Leipzig of the testicles of the firebug, during which Henking noticed that one chromosome did not take part in meiosis. He named this the X element because its strange behaviour made him unsure whether it was genuinely a chromosome. It was later named the X chromosome after American cytologist Clarence Erwin McClung established that it was not only a genuine chromosome but a sex-determining one, though McClung incorrectly guessed that it was the male-determining sex chromosome.
European Journal of Entomology (EJE) is a quarterly peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Czech Academy of Sciences. It covers research in entomology, including Myriapoda, Chelicerata, and terrestrial Crustacea. It was established in 1904 by the Czech Entomological Society under the title Acta Societatis Entomologicae Bohemiae, then later as Acta Entomologica Bohemoslovaca. The insect depicted on the cover of the journal is Pyrrhocoris apterus. According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2011 impact factor of 1.061. In 2016, the journal became electronic-only and open access.
Himacerus apterus, known as the tree damsel bug, is a species of damsel bug belonging to the family Nabidae, subfamily Nabinae.
Roscius is an Afrotropical genus of true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae, the cotton stainers. They are often confused with bugs in the family Lygaeidae, such as the genus Oncopeltus, but can be distinguished by the lack of ocelli on the head.
Dysdercus is a widespread genus of true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae; a number of species attacking cotton bolls may be called "cotton stainers".
Antilochus is an Old World genus of true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae. The genus currently contains about 25 species, occurring in tropical Africa including Madagascar, South and Southeast Asia, the Malay Archipelago, and New Guinea. Antilochus are brightly coloured, usually red and black, and easily differentiated from other pyrrhocorids by the head being transversely depressed behind the eyes. They are often confused with bugs in the family Lygaeidae, but can be distinguished by the lack of ocelli on the head. Unlike most pyrrhocorids, Antilochus species are predatory, rather than herbivorous.
Melamphaus is an Old World genus of true bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae, the cotton stainers. They are often confused with bugs in the family Lygaeidae, but can be distinguished by the lack of ocelli on the head.
Dysdercus cingulatus 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.
The Coriobacteriia are a class of Gram-positive bacteria within the Actinomycetota phylum. Species within this group are nonsporulating, strict or facultative anaerobes that are capable of thriving in a diverse set of ecological niches. Gordonibacter species are the only members capable of motility by means of flagella within the class. Several species within the Coriobacteriia class have been implicated with human diseases that range in severity. Atopobium, Olsenella, and Cryptobacterium species have responsible for human oral infections including periodontitis, halitosis, and other endodontic infections. Eggerthella species have been associated with severe blood bacteraemia and ulcerative colitis.
Antilochus coquebertii is an Old World species of true bug in the family Pyrrhocoridae, occurring in South and Southeast Asia. It is brightly coloured, red and black, and is a beneficial predator on other pyrrhocorids, especially the genus Dysdercus, which are crop pests. They are often confused with bugs in the family Lygaeidae, but can be distinguished by the lack of ocelli on the head, and they can be easily distinguished from Dysdercus by the lack of white stripes on the body. They are known to be cannibalistic in nature, but are not known to prey on human flesh or blood.
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.
Scantius is a genus of mostly African and European bugs in the family Pyrrhocoridae. There are at least two described species in Scantius.
Probergrothius sanguinolens is a species of bug found in India. They feed on a range of seeds and are particularly common on the seeds of Sterculia and other Malvaceae. They also feed on freshly dead animal matter with early instar nymphs preferring animal matter to seeds.
