What are Hemiptera?
The order Hemiptera ("half-winged") contains over 80,000 species defined by their specialized piercing-sucking mouthparts. The order is divided into several groups including the sap-feeding homopterans (cicadas, aphids, scale insects) and the true bugs (suborder Heteroptera).
Sap-Feeding Hemipterans
Cicadas (family Cicadidae)
- Annual cicadas: Appear every year. Males produce the loudest sounds of any insect — up to 120 decibels, as loud as a chainsaw.
- Periodical cicadas (genus Magicicada): Emerge in synchronized mass events after 13 or 17 years underground — both prime numbers, possibly evolved to avoid predator synchronization. Billions emerge simultaneously, overwhelming predators through sheer numbers.
Plant Feeders & Pests
- Aphids (family Aphididae): Tiny sap-suckers that reproduce explosively — a single female can theoretically produce billions of descendants in one season. Secrete honeydew that attracts ants, which "farm" and protect them.
- Froghoppers (family Cercopidae): Nymphs produce a protective froth ("cuckoo spit") from plant sap. Adults are champion jumpers, launching themselves with an acceleration of 4,000 m/s² — 400 times gravity.
- Leafhoppers (family Cicadellidae): Over 20,000 species. Can transmit plant diseases through feeding. Some produce brochosomes — microscopically structured particles coating their bodies.
- Treehoppers (family Membracidae): Famous for bizarre, elaborate pronotum shapes — helmets, thorns, ant-mimics, and sculpture-like forms driven by sexual selection.
- Jumping plant lice (family Psyllidae): Tiny sap-suckers. The Asian citrus psyllid transmits citrus greening disease, threatening the global citrus industry.
- Whiteflies (family Aleyrodidae): Moth-like sap-feeders coated in white waxy powder. Major greenhouse pests.
- Mealybugs (family Pseudococcidae): Soft-bodied insects covered in waxy secretions. Serious pests of houseplants and tropical crops.
- Genus Phylloxera:
- Grape phylloxera (P. vitifoliae): Destroyed 70% of European vineyards in the late 1800s — one of the most devastating agricultural disasters in history. Saved by grafting European vines onto resistant American rootstock.
- Scale insects (multiple families): Immobile sap-feeders often covered in protective scales or waxy coverings.
- Cottony-cushion scale (Icerya purchasi): Nearly destroyed California's citrus industry until controlled by the introduced vedalia beetle — the first successful biological control program.
- Oystershell scale (Lepidosaphes ulmi): Named for shell-shaped scale covering. Pest of fruit and shade trees.
- San Jose scale (Quadraspidiotus perniciosus): Major pest of apples and pears.
- Scurfy scale (Chionaspis furfura): Pear-shaped white scales on fruit tree bark.
- Kermes (Kermes ilicis): Scale insect historically harvested from oak trees to produce crimson dye.
- Ground pearls (genus Margarodes): Underground scale insects whose cyst-like stage resembles tiny pearls. Historically used as beads.
- Plant hoppers (superfamily Fulgoroidea):
- Lanternfly (Lanternaria phosphorea): Tropical bug with an enlarged, peanut-shaped head process — once falsely believed to glow.
- Spotted lanternfly (Lycorma delicatula): Invasive pest from Asia devastating vineyards, orchards, and hardwood forests in the eastern US since 2014.
True Bugs — Suborder Heteroptera
Predatory Bugs
- Assassin bugs (family Reduviidae): Fierce predators that ambush prey and inject digestive enzymes.
- Ambush bugs (subfamily Phymatinae): Thick-legged bugs that lie in wait on flowers to grab pollinators.
- Kissing bugs (subfamily Triatominae): Blood-feeders that bite around the mouth while humans sleep. Vector of Chagas disease, which affects 6-7 million people.
- Rhodnius prolixus: The primary Chagas disease vector in Central America and northern South America.
- Masked hunter (Reduvius personatus): Nymphs cover themselves in dust and lint as camouflage. Preys on bed bugs, earning it a welcome (if creepy) presence in homes.
- Damsel bugs (family Nabidae): Slender predatory bugs that feed on aphids, caterpillars, and other soft-bodied insects.
- Flower bugs (family Anthocoridae): Tiny but effective predators of thrips, mites, and aphids. Used commercially in greenhouses.
- Giant water bugs (family Belostomatidae): The largest true bugs — up to 12cm. "Toe-biters" that can capture fish, frogs, and even small snakes. Males carry eggs on their backs in some species.
Parasitic Bugs
- Bedbugs (family Cimicidae): Flat, wingless blood parasites. Resurgent worldwide due to pesticide resistance and increased global travel. Can survive a year without feeding.
- Bat bugs (family Polyctenidae): Wingless ectoparasites specialized on bats. Closely related to bed bugs.
Plant-Feeding True Bugs
- Stinkbugs (family Pentatomidae): Shield-shaped bugs with powerful defensive scent glands.
- Harlequin cabbage bug (Murgantia histrionica): Red-and-black pest devastating cruciferous crops.
- Coreid bugs (family Coreidae): Leaf-footed bugs with expanded tibiae on the hind legs. Many are crop pests.
- Lace bugs (family Tingidae): Delicate, lace-patterned wings. Feed on leaves, causing stippling damage.
- Plant bugs (families Lygaeidae and Miridae):
- Chinch bug (Blissus leucopterus): Major pest of lawns and grain crops.
- Red bugs (family Pyrrhocoridae): Brightly colored seed-feeding bugs including cotton stainers.
- Flat bugs (family Aradidae): Extremely flattened bark-dwelling bugs that feed on fungi.
- Stilt bugs (family Berytidae): Thread-thin bugs with extremely long legs and antennae.
- Unique-headed bugs (family Enicocephalidae): Predatory bugs with a distinctively constricted, elongated head.
Aquatic & Semi-Aquatic Bugs
- Water striders (family Gerridae): Walk on water using hydrophobic micro-hairs on their feet. Detect prey by sensing surface vibrations.
- Backswimmers (family Notonectidae): Swim upside-down using their oar-like hind legs. Trap a silvery air bubble on their ventral surface.
- Water boatmen (family Corixidae): Common pond insects. Males produce courtship songs by rubbing their genitalia against their abdomen — relative to body size, the loudest animal on Earth (99 dB).
- Water scorpions (family Nepidae): Elongated or leaf-shaped aquatic bugs with a long breathing siphon at the abdomen tip. Ambush predators.
- Creeping water bugs (family Naucoridae): Oval, flattened aquatic predators with raptorial forelegs.
- Smaller water striders (family Veliidae): "Broad-shouldered water striders" — smaller, stockier relatives of water striders.
- Marsh treaders (family Hydrometridae): Stick-thin bugs that walk slowly on the water surface. Elongated heads with forward-projecting mouthparts.
- Water treaders (family Mesoveliidae): Semi-aquatic bugs found at the edges of ponds and streams.
- Velvet water bugs (family Hebridae): Tiny bugs with a velvety water-repellent body covering.
- Velvety shore bugs (family Ochteridae): Dark, velvety bugs found along stream banks.
- Shore bugs (family Saldidae): Jumping bugs of muddy shores and salt marshes.
- Toad bugs (family Gelastocoridae): Flattened, warty bugs resembling tiny toads. Ambush prey on muddy stream banks.