Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A typical life cycle involves flightless females giving live birth to female nymphs—who may also be already pregnant, an adaptation scientists call telescoping generations—without the involvement of males. Maturing rapidly, females breed profusely so that the number of these insects multiplies quickly. Winged females may develop later in the season, allowing the insects to colonize new plants. In temperate regions, a phase of sexual reproduction occurs in the autumn, with the insects often overwintering as eggs.
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.
Withania somnifera, known commonly as ashwagandha, is an evergreen shrub in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that grows in India, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. Several other species in the genus Withania are morphologically similar.
Leafhopper is the common name for any species from the family Cicadellidae. These minute insects, colloquially known as hoppers, are plant feeders that suck plant sap from grass, shrubs, or trees. Their hind legs are modified for jumping, and are covered with hairs that facilitate the spreading of a secretion over their bodies that acts as a water repellent and carrier of pheromones. They undergo a partial metamorphosis, and have various host associations, varying from very generalized to very specific. Some species have a cosmopolitan distribution, or occur throughout the temperate and tropical regions. Some are pests or vectors of plant viruses and phytoplasmas. The family is distributed all over the world, and constitutes the second-largest hemipteran family, with at least 20,000 described species.
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.
Eurybrachidae is a small family of planthoppers with species occurring in parts of Asia, Australia and Africa. They are remarkable for the sophistication of their automimicry.
Umbonia crassicornis, commonly known as the thorn bug, is a widespread member of the insect family Membracidae, and an occasional pest of ornamentals and fruit trees in southern Florida. The body length of the adult is approximately 10 millimetres (0.39 in). This is a variable species as to size, color and structure, particularly the pronotal horn of males. This tall, essentially perpendicular thorn-like pronotum discourages birds and other predators from eating it, if only by mistakenly confusing it with a thorn. Typically, the adult is green or yellow with reddish lines and brownish markings.
The buffalo treehopper is a species of treehopper belonging to the subfamily Smiliinae. It is sometimes classified as Ceresa bisonia.
Stictocephala is a genus of treehoppers in the family Membracidae; in the subfamily Smiliinae and tribe Ceresini. Species appear to be distributed mostly in North America, but S. bisonia has become widely distributed in Europe.
Centrotus cornutus (thorn-hopper) is a species of "treehoppers" belonging to the family Membracidae.
Aconophora compressa is a species of insect in the treehopper family, Membracidae. It is known by the common names lantana bug, lantana treehopper, lantana stemsucking treehopper, and lantana sap-sucking bug.
Enchenopa binotata is a complex of multiple species found mostly in Eastern North America, but have also been reported in Central America. They are commonly referred to as treehoppers and are sap-feeding insects. The species in the complex look similar to each other in morphology, but are identified as different species by the host plant they occupy.
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.
Entylia carinata, commonly known as the keeled treehopper, is a species of treehopper in the family Membracidae. They can be found in Brazil, Panama, Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Keeled treehoppers are often attended by ants which feed on the honeydew they excrete. In return, the ants offer protection from predators. Keeled treehoppers typically feed on plants in the aster family and they are not known to transmit plant diseases and are not considered significant plant pests.
Smiliinae is a subfamily of treehoppers in the family Membracidae. These are bugs and include about 100 genera in 10 tribes.
Tylopelta gibbera is a species of treehopper in the family Membracidae. This insect has a range which extends from Guatemala into the central United States, although it is occasionally found in Canada. Vibrational communication has been noted in this species, although there is discussion as to what exactly it is being used for.
The Brazilian treehopper is a species of insect belonging to the treehopper family (Membracidae). It has unusual appendages on its thorax. While Bocydium can be found throughout the world, they are most prevalent in Africa, North and South America, Asia and Australia. They exhibit limited movement and their primary food source is from the underside of leaves. They also exhibit hemimetabolous development. Treehoppers range from about two millimeters to two centimeters in length.
Phenacoccus solenopsis, the cotton mealybug or solenopsis mealybug, is a species of mealybug in the family Pseudococcidae. Having originated in North America, it has spread to other parts of the world and become a major pest of cotton crops.
Stictocephala alta is a species of treehopper in the family Membracidae.
Centrotinae is a subfamily within the treehoppers (Membracidae) and is the largest and only subfamily with a worldwide distribution of species. There are nearly 1350 species placed in 216 genera. Species in the genus make use of a wide range of host plants belonging to 105 plant families with dominant ones being Leguminosae, Compositae, Solanaceae, and Euphorbiaceae. Most species have relationships with ants that tend them for honeydew. The Centrotinae typically have the posterior pronotal process not concealing the scutellum and the forewing has the clavus truncated at the apex and having a broad apical limbus. Exceptions in which the scutellum are partly concealed can be found both in the New and Old World.
