Hemiptera

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Hemiptera
Temporal range: Permian–Recent
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Acanthosoma haemorrhoidale, a shield bug

Aphids
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Infraclass: Neoptera
Superorder: Paraneoptera
Order: Hemiptera
Linnaeus, 1758
Suborders [1]
• Auchenorrhyncha
• Coleorrhyncha
• Heteroptera

• Sternorrhyncha

Hemiptera (pronounced /hɛˈmɪptərə/) is an order of insects most often known as the

true bugs (cf. bug), comprising around 50,000–80,000 species[2] of cicadas, aphids,
planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others. They range in size from 1 millimetre
(0.039 in) to around 15 centimetres (5.9 in), and share a common arrangement of sucking
mouthparts.[3] Sometimes the name true bugs is applied more narrowly still to insects of
the suborder Heteroptera only.[4]

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Characteristics
• 2 Classification
• 3 Life cycle and ecology
• 4 Economic significance
• 5 See also

• 6 References

Characteristics
The defining feature of hemipterans is their possession of mouthparts where the
mandibles and maxillae have evolved into a proboscis, sheathed within a modified
labium to form a "beak" or "rostrum" which is capable of piercing tissues (usually plant
tissues) and sucking out the liquids — typically sap.

The forewings of Hemiptera are either entirely membranous, as in the Sternorrhyncha

and Auchenorrhyncha, or partially hardened, as in most Heteroptera. The name
"Hemiptera" is from the Greek ἡμι- (hemi; "half") and πτερόν (pteron; "wing"), referring
to the forewings of many heteropterans which are hardened near the base, but
membranous at the ends. Wings modified in this manner are termed hemelytra (singular:
hemelytron), by analogy with the completely hardened elytra of beetles, and occur only in
the suborder Heteroptera. The forewings may be held "roofwise" over the body (typical
of Sternorrhyncha and Auchenorrhyncha), or held flat on the back, with the ends
overlapping (typical of Heteroptera). In all suborders, the hindwings - if present at all -
are entirely membranous and usually shorter than the forewings.
The antennae in Hemiptera are typically five-segmented, although they can still be quite
long, and the tarsi of the legs are three-segmented or shorter.[5]

Although hemipterans vary widely in their overall form, their mouthparts (formed into a
"rostrum") are quite distinctive; the only orders with mouthparts modified in a similar
manner are the Thysanoptera and some Phthiraptera, and these are generally easy to
recognize as non-hemipteran for other reasons. Aside from the mouthparts, various
insects can be confused with hemipterans, including cockroaches and psocids, both of
which have longer many-segmented antennae, and some beetles, but these have fully
hardened forewings which do not overlap.[6]

Classification
The present members of the order Hemiptera were historically placed into two orders,
Homoptera and Heteroptera/Hemiptera, based on the differences in wing structure and
the position of the rostrum. These two orders were then combined into the single order
Hemiptera by many authorities, with Homoptera and Heteroptera classified as suborders.
The order is presently more usually divided into four or more suborders, after it was
established that the families grouped together as "Homoptera" are not as closely related
as had previously been thought (see paraphyly). Auchenorrhyncha contains the cicadas,
leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and froghoppers. The 12,500 species in the
suborder Sternorrhyncha are the aphids, whiteflies and scale insects. The suborder
Coleorrhyncha (comprising the single family Peloridiidae), contains fewer than 30
species of Gondwana-distributed bugs, and is sometimes grouped with the Heteroptera
(to form the suborder Prosorrhyncha). Heteroptera itself is a group of 25,000 species of
relatively large bugs, including the shield bugs, seed bugs, assassin bugs, flower bugs,
sweetpotato bugs and the water bugs (see below).

The closest relatives of hemipterans are the thrips and lice, which collectively form the
"hemipteroid assemblage" within the Exopterygota subclass of the Class Insecta.[7]

The fossil record of hemipterans goes back to the Early Permian.[8] Homopterans
appeared first, with Heteroptera first appearing in the Triassic.[9]

Life cycle and ecology

Hemipterans are hemimetabolous, meaning that they do not undergo metamorphosis
between a larval phase and an adult phase. Instead, their young are called nymphs, and
resemble the adults to a large degree, the final transformation involving little more than
the development of functional wings (if they are present at all) and functioning sexual
organs, with no intervening pupal stage as in holometabolous insects. Hemiptera is the
largest insect order that is hemimetabolous; the orders with more species all have a pupal
stage (Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera).
Many aphids are parthenogenetic during part of the life cycle, such that females can
produce unfertilized eggs, which are clones of themselves.

Pondskaters Gerris najas mating

Most hemipterans are phytophagous, feeding on plant sap, such as aphids, scale insects
and cicadas. Most of the remainder are predatory, feeding on other insects, or even small
vertebrates. A few, however, are parasites, feeding on the blood of larger animals. These
include bedbugs and the kissing bugs of the family Reduviidae, which can transmit
potentially deadly Trypanosoma infections.[2]

Several families of Hemiptera are water bugs, adapted to an aquatic lifestyle, such as the
water boatmen and water scorpions. They are mostly predatory, and have legs adapted as
paddles to help the animal move through the water. The "pondskaters" or "water striders"
of the family Gerridae are also associated with water, but use the surface tension of
standing water to keep them above the surface; they include the genus Halobates which is
the only group of insects to be truly marine.[2]