Hemiptera

Hemiptera
Temporal range: MoscovianHolocene,
Species from each of the four suborders of Hemiptera, clockwise from top-left: Acanthosoma labiduroides (Heteroptera), Xenophyes forsteri (Coleorrhyncha), Magicicada septendecim (Auchenorrhyncha), and Aphids (Sternorrhyncha).
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
(unranked): Paraneoptera
Superorder: Condylognatha
Order: Hemiptera
Linnaeus, 1758
Suborders[2]

Hemiptera (/hɛˈmɪptərə/; from Ancient Greek hemipterus 'half-winged') 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.[3] The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera.[4]

Entomologists reserve the term bug for Hemiptera or Heteroptera,[5] which does not include other arthropods or insects of other orders such as ants, bees, beetles, or butterflies. In some varieties of English, all terrestrial arthropods (including non-insect arachnids, and myriapods) also fall under the colloquial understanding of bug.[a]

Many insects with "bug" in their common name, especially in American English, belong to other orders; for example, the lovebug is a fly[9] and the Maybug and ladybug are beetles.[10] The term is occasionally extended to colloquial names for freshwater or marine crustaceans (e.g. Balmain bug, Moreton Bay bug, mudbug) and used by physicians and bacteriologists for disease-causing germs (e.g. superbugs).[5]

Most hemipterans feed on plants, using their sucking and piercing mouthparts to extract plant sap. Some are bloodsucking, or hematophagous, while others are predators that feed on other insects or small invertebrates. They live in a wide variety of habitats, generally terrestrial, though some are adapted to life in or on the surface of fresh water (e.g. pondskaters, water boatmen, giant water bugs). Hemipterans are hemimetabolous, with young nymphs that somewhat resemble adults. Many aphids are capable of parthenogenesis, producing young from unfertilised eggs; this helps them to reproduce extremely rapidly in favourable conditions.

Humans have interacted with the Hemiptera for millennia. Some species, including many aphids, are significant agricultural pests, damaging crops by sucking the sap. Others harm humans more directly as vectors of serious viral diseases. The bed bug is a persistent parasite of humans, and some kissing bugs can transmit Chagas disease. Some species have been used for biological control of insect pests or of invasive plants. A few hemipterans, have been cultivated for the extraction of dyestuffs such as cochineal and carmine, and for shellac. Cicadas have been used as food, and have appeared in literature since the Iliad in Ancient Greece.

  1. ^ Wang, Yan-hui; Engel, Michael S.; Rafael, José A.; Wu, Hao-yang; Rédei, Dávid; et al. (2016). "Fossil record of stem groups employed in evaluating the chronogram of insects (Arthropoda: Hexapoda)". Scientific Reports. 6: 38939. Bibcode:2016NatSR...638939W. doi:10.1038/srep38939. PMC 5154178. PMID 27958352.
  2. ^ "Hemiptera". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
  3. ^ "Hemiptera: bugs, aphids and cicadas". Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
  4. ^ "Suborder Heteroptera – True Bugs". Bug guide. Iowa State University Entomology. n.d.
  5. ^ a b c Gilbert Waldbauer. The Handy Bug Answer Book. Visible Ink, 1998. p. 1. ISBN 9781578590490
  6. ^ "What is a bug? Insects, arachnids, and myriapods" at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa website. Accessed 10 March 2022.
  7. ^ Gilbert Waldbauer. The Handy Bug Answer Book. Visible Ink, 1998. pp. 5–26. ISBN 9781578590490
  8. ^ "BUG | Meaning & Definition for UK English". Lexico.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  9. ^ Denmark, Harold; Mead, Frank; Fasulo, Thomas (April 2010). "Lovebug, Plecia nearctica Hardy". Featured Creatures. University of Florida/IFAS. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Melolontha melolontha (cockchafer or May bug)". Natural History Museum. Archived from the original on 3 July 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2015.


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