55-588: The superfamily Cercopoidea , some members of which are called froghoppers and still others known as spittlebugs , are a group of hemipteran insects in the suborder Auchenorrhyncha . Adults are capable of jumping many times their height and length, giving the group their common name, but many species are best known for their plant-sucking nymphs which produce foam shelters, and are referred to as "spittlebugs". Membracoidea Cicadoidea Machaerotidae Clastopteridae Cercopidae Aphrophoridae (incl. Epipygidae ) Traditionally, most of this superfamily
110-408: A pupal stage and undergo complete metamorphosis . The majority of species are terrestrial, including a number of important agricultural pests, but some are found in freshwater habitats. These include the water boatmen , backswimmers , pond skaters , and giant water bugs . Hemiptera belong to the insect superorder Paraneoptera , which includes lice ( Psocodea ), thrips ( Thysanoptera ), and
165-421: A cover of foamed-up plant sap visually resembling saliva ; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs and their foam as cuckoo spit, frog spit, or snake spit. This characteristic spittle production is associated with the unusual trait of xylem feeding. Whereas most insects that feed on sap feed on the nutrient-rich fluid from the phloem , Cercopidae utilize the much more dilute sap flowing upward from
220-673: A double layer of grains, coarser on the outside. The Amazon rain forest cicada Hemisciera maculipennis displays bright red deimatic flash coloration on its hindwings when threatened; the sudden contrast helps to startle predators, giving the cicada time to escape. The coloured patch on the hindwing is concealed at rest by an olive green patch of the same size on the forewing, enabling the insect to switch rapidly from cryptic to deimatic behaviour. Some hemipterans such as firebugs have bold aposematic warning coloration, often red and black, which appear to deter passerine birds. Many hemipterans including aphids, scale insects and especially
275-443: A greater or lesser degree. The nymphs moult several times as they grow, and each instar resembles the adult more than the previous one. Wing buds grow in later stage nymphs; the final transformation involves 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. Many aphids are parthenogenetic during part of
330-620: A herbaceous plant. Phloem sap, which has a higher concentration of sugars and nitrogen, is under positive pressure unlike the more dilute xylem sap. Most of the Sternorrhyncha and a number of Auchenorrhynchan groups feed on phloem. Phloem feeding is common in the Fulgoromorpha, most Cicadellidae and in the Heteroptera. The Typhlocybine Cicadellids specialize in feeding on non-vascular mesophyll tissue of leaves, which
385-404: A jam jar in and out. Stridulatory sounds are produced among the aquatic Corixidae and Notonectidae (backswimmers) using tibial combs rubbed across rostral ridges. Hemipterans are hemimetabolous , meaning that they do not undergo metamorphosis , the complete change of form between a larval phase and an adult phase . Instead, their young are called nymphs , and resemble the adults to
440-480: A number of purposes. It hides the nymph from the view of predators and parasites, and it insulates against heat and cold, thus providing thermal control and also moisture control; without the foam, the insect would risk dehydration. The nymphs pierce plants and suck sap causing very little damage; much of the filtered fluids go into the production of the foam, which has an acrid taste, deterring predators. A few species are serious agricultural pests . A small family in
495-488: A single species. This kind of polymorphism tends to be helpful when habitats are temporary with more energy put into reproduction when food is available and into dispersal through flight when food becomes scarce. In aphids, both winged and wingless forms occur with winged forms produced in greater numbers when food resources are depleted. Aphids and whiteflies can sometimes be transported very long distances by atmospheric updrafts and high altitude winds. Wing-length polymorphism
550-601: A take-off velocity of up to 2.7 metres per second and an acceleration of up to 250 g. The instantaneous power output is much greater than that of normal muscle, implying that energy is stored and released to catapult the insect into the air. Cicadas, which are much larger, extend their hind legs for a jump in under a millisecond, again implying elastic storage of energy for sudden release. Instead of relying on any form of locomotion, most Sternorrhyncha females are sedentary or completely sessile, attached to their host plants by their thin feeding stylets which cannot be taken out of
605-409: A variety of modes of locomotion including swimming, skating on a water surface and jumping, as well as walking and flying like other insects. Several families of Heteroptera are water bugs , adapted to an aquatic lifestyle , such as the water boatmen (Corixidae), water scorpions (Nepidae), and backswimmers (Notonectidae). They are mostly predatory, and have legs adapted as paddles to help
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#1732780854428660-536: A water surface, in the same way that a toy soap boat propels itself. Water bugs in the genus Microvelia ( Veliidae ) can travel at up to 17 cm/s, twice as fast as they can walk, by this means. Flight is well developed in the Hemiptera although mostly used for short distance movement and dispersal. Wing development is sometimes related to environmental conditions. In some groups of Hemiptera, there are variations of winged, short-winged, and wingless forms within
715-451: 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
770-405: 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
825-411: Is even lower in amino acids and contains monosaccharides rather than sucrose , as well as organic acids and minerals. No digestion is required (except for the hydrolysis of sucrose) and 90% of the nutrients in the xylem sap can be utilised. Some phloem sap feeders selectively mix phloem and xylem sap to control the osmotic potential of the liquid consumed. A striking adaptation to a very dilute diet
880-502: Is found in many hemipterans: a filter chamber, a part of the gut looped back on itself as a countercurrent exchanger, which permits nutrients to be separated from excess water. The residue, mostly water with sugars and amino acids, is quickly excreted as sticky "honey dew", notably from aphids but also from other Auchenorrhycha and Sternorrhyncha. Some Sternorrhyncha including Psyllids and some aphids are gall formers. These sap-sucking hemipterans inject fluids containing plant hormones into
935-713: Is known from the late Middle Jurassic and early Late Cretaceous of Asia. The genus Qibinius the Middle Jurassic Yanan Formation of China mixes characters of both families and cannot be assigned to either. The genus Cercopion from the Aptian aged Crato Formation of Brazil appears to be derived from the Procerocopidae and closely related to the crown group . Hemiptera Hemiptera ( / h ɛ ˈ m ɪ p t ər ə / ; from Ancient Greek hemipterus 'half-winged')
990-654: Is more nutritious than the leaf epidermis. Most Heteroptera also feed on mesophyll tissue where they are more likely to encounter defensive secondary plant metabolites which often leads to the evolution of host specificity. Obligate xylem feeding is a special habit that is found in the Auchenorrhyncha among Cicadoidea, Cercopoidea and in Cicadelline Cicadellids. Some phloem feeders may take to xylem sap facultatively, especially when facing dehydration. Xylem feeders tend to be polyphagous; to overcome
1045-408: Is notably rare in tree-living Hemiptera. Many Auchenorrhyncha including representatives of the cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and froghoppers are adapted for jumping (saltation). Treehoppers, for example, jump by rapidly depressing their hind legs. Before jumping, the hind legs are raised and the femora are pressed tightly into curved indentations in the coxae. Treehoppers can attain
1100-424: Is their "beak" in which the modified mandibles and maxillae form a "stylet" which is sheathed within a modified labium . The stylet is capable of piercing tissues and sucking liquids, while the labium supports it. The stylet contains a channel for the outward movement of saliva and another for the inward movement of liquid food. A salivary pump drives saliva into the prey; a cibarial pump extracts liquid from
1155-418: Is true of many aquatic species which are predatory, either as nymphs or adults. The predatory shield bug for example stabs caterpillars with its beak and sucks out the body fluids. The saliva of predatory heteropterans contains digestive enzymes such as proteinase and phospholipase , and in some species also amylase . The mouthparts of these insects are adapted for predation. There are toothed stylets on
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#17327808544281210-492: The Early Devonian period. Hemipterans can dramatically cut the mass of affected plants, especially in major outbreaks. They sometimes also change the mix of plants by predation on seeds or feeding on roots of certain species. Some sap-suckers move from one host to another at different times of year. Many aphids spend the winter as eggs on a woody host plant and the summer as parthenogenetically reproducing females on
1265-530: The Malpighian tubules in their proximal segment that produce mucopolysaccharides, which form the froth around spittlebugs, offering a measure of protection. Parental care is found in many species of Hemiptera especially in members of the Membracidae and numerous Heteroptera. In many species of shield bug, females stand guard over their egg clusters to protect them from egg parasitoids and predators. In
1320-591: The Psylloidea and Aleyrodoidea . Aphids and Coccoids appear in the Triassic . The Coleorrhyncha extend back to the Lower Jurassic . The Heteroptera first appeared in the Triassic . The present members of the order Hemiptera (sometimes referred to as Rhynchota) were historically placed into two orders, the so-called Homoptera and Heteroptera/Hemiptera, based on differences in wing structure and
1375-530: 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
1430-482: The honeydew that these hemipterans secrete. The relationship is mutualistic , as both ant and aphid benefit. Ants such as the yellow anthill ant, Lasius flavus , breed aphids of at least four species, Geoica utricularia , Tetraneura ulmi , Forda marginata and Forda formicaria , taking eggs with them when they found a new colony; in return, these aphids are obligately associated with the ant, breeding mainly or wholly asexually inside anthills. Ants may also protect
1485-599: The lovebug is a fly and the Maybug and ladybug are beetles . 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 ). 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
1540-452: 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
1595-414: The animal move through the water. The pondskaters or water striders (Gerridae) are also associated with water, but use the surface tension of standing water to keep them above the surface; they include the sea skaters in the genus Halobates , the only truly marine group of insects. Marangoni effect propulsion exploits the change in surface tension when a soap-like surfactant is released on to
1650-413: The aquatic Belostomatidae, females lay their eggs on the back of the male which guards the eggs. Protection provided by ants is common in the Auchenorrhyncha. Although many species of Hemiptera are significant pests of crops and garden plants, including many species of aphid and scale insects , other species are harmless. The damage done is often not so much the deprivation of the plant of its sap, but
1705-513: The completely hardened elytra of beetles , and occur only in the suborder Heteroptera . In all suborders, the hindwings – if present at all – are entirely membranous and usually shorter than the forewings. 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 ). The antennae in Hemiptera typically consist of four or five segments, although they can still be quite long, and
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1760-496: The dangerous Chagas disease . The first known hemipteran to feed in this way on vertebrates was the extinct assassin bug Triatoma dominicana found fossilized in amber and dating back about twenty million years. Faecal pellets fossilised beside it show that it transmitted a disease-causing Trypanosoma and the amber included hairs of the likely host, a bat . Some species of ant protect and farm aphids (Sternorrhyncha) and other sap-sucking hemipterans, gathering and eating
1815-824: The disparity in the analyses is suggested to be the long branch attraction effect in phylogenetic analysis, due to rapidly evolving DNA regions. The cladogram shows Hemiptera's placement within Paraneoptera , as well as how Hemiptera's four suborders are related. English names are given in parentheses where possible. Other insects [REDACTED] (barklice, booklice, lice) [REDACTED] Thysanoptera (thrips) [REDACTED] (aphids, scale insects, etc) [REDACTED] (shield bugs, assassin bugs, etc) [REDACTED] (moss bugs) [REDACTED] Fulgoromorpha (planthoppers) [REDACTED] Cicadomorpha (cicadas, leafhoppers, spittlebugs, etc) [REDACTED] The defining feature of hemipterans
1870-620: 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 . Hemiptera is the largest order of hemimetabolous insects (not undergoing complete metamorphosis; though some examples such as male scale insects do undergo a form of complete metamorphosis ), containing over 95,000 named species. Other insect orders with more species are all holometabolous , meaning they have
1925-429: The fact that they transmit serious viral diseases between plants. They often produce copious amounts of honeydew which encourages the growth of sooty mould . Significant pests include the cottony cushion scale , a pest of citrus fruit trees, the green peach aphid and other aphids which attack crops worldwide and transmit diseases, and jumping plant lice which can be plant-specific and transmit diseases, as with
1980-783: The group, the Machaerotidae , known as the tube spittlebugs, is an outlier among the Cercopoidea because the nymphs live in calcareous tubes rather than producing foam as in the other families. Adult froghoppers jump from plant to plant; some species can jump up to 70 cm (28 in) vertically: a more impressive performance relative to body weight than fleas . The froghopper can accelerate at 4,000 m/s (13,000 ft/s) over 2 mm (0.079 in) as it jumps (experiencing over 400 gs of acceleration). Spittlebugs can jump 100 times their own length. Many species of froghopper resemble leafhoppers , but can be distinguished by
2035-457: The heteropteran Oncopeltus fasciatus when it consumes milkweeds , while the coreid stinkbug Amorbus rubiginosus acquires 2- hexenal from its food plant, Eucalyptus . Some long-legged bugs mimic twigs, rocking to and fro to simulate the motion of a plant part in the wind. The nymph of the Masked hunter bug camouflages itself with sand grains, using its hind legs and tarsal fan to form
2090-426: The life cycle, such that females can produce unfertilized eggs, which are clones of their mother. All such young are females ( thelytoky ), so 100% of the population at these times can produce more offspring. Many species of aphid are also viviparous : the young are born live rather than laid as eggs. These adaptations enable aphids to reproduce extremely rapidly when conditions are suitable. Hemipterans make use of
2145-438: The mandibles able to cut into and abrade tissues of their prey. There are further stylets on the maxillae, adapted as tubular canals to inject saliva and to extract the pre-digested and liquified contents of the prey. A few hemipterans are haematophagic ectoparasites ), feeding on the blood of larger animals. These include bedbugs and the triatomine kissing bugs of the assassin bug family Reduviidae , which can transmit
2200-582: The mouthparts of Siphonaptera , some Diptera and Thysanoptera superficially resemble the rostrum of the Hemiptera, but on closer inspection the differences are considerable. Aside from the mouthparts, various other insects can be confused with Hemiptera, but they all have biting mandibles and maxillae instead of the rostrum. Examples include cockroaches and psocids , both of which have longer, many-segmented antennae, and some beetles , but these have fully hardened forewings which do not overlap. The forewings of Hemiptera are either entirely membranous, as in
2255-471: The negative pressure of xylem requires a special cibarial pump. Phloem feeding hemiptera typically have symbiotic micro-organisms in their gut that help to convert amino acids . Phloem feeders produce honeydew from their anus. A variety of organisms that feed on honeydew form symbiotic associations with phloem-feeders. Phloem sap is a sugary liquid low in amino acids, so insects have to process large quantities to meet their nutritional requirements. Xylem sap
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2310-947: The plant bugs from their natural enemies, removing the eggs of predatory beetles and preventing access by parasitic wasps. Some leafhoppers (Auchenorrhyncha) are similarly "milked" by ants. In the Corcovado rain forest of Costa Rica, wasps compete with ants to protect and milk leafhoppers; the leafhoppers preferentially give more honeydew, more often, to the wasps, which are larger and may offer better protection. Hemiptera form prey to predators including vertebrates, such as birds, and other invertebrates such as ladybirds . In response, hemipterans have evolved antipredator adaptations . Ranatra may feign death ( thanatosis ). Others such as Carpocoris purpureipennis secrete toxic fluids to ward off arthropod predators; some Pentatomidae such as Dolycoris are able to direct these fluids at an attacker. Toxic cardenolide compounds are accumulated by
2365-603: The plant quickly. Most hemipterans are phytophagous, using their sucking and piercing mouthparts to feed on plant sap. These include cicadas, leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, froghoppers, aphids, whiteflies, scale insects , and some other groups. Some are monophages , being host specific and only found on one plant taxon, others are oligophages , feeding on a few plant groups, while others again are less discriminating polyphages and feed on many species of plant. The relationship between hemipterans and plants appears to be ancient, with piercing and sucking of plants evident in
2420-454: The plant tissues inducing the production of tissue that covers to protects the insect and also act as sinks for nutrition that they feed on. The hackleberry gall psyllid for example, causes a woody gall on the leaf petioles of the hackleberry tree it infests, and the nymph of another psyllid produces a protective lerp out of hardened honeydew. Most other hemipterans are predatory , feeding on other insects, or even small vertebrates. This
2475-459: The planthoppers secrete wax to protect themselves from threats such as fungi, parasitoidal insects and predators, as well as abiotic factors like desiccation. Hard waxy coverings are especially important in the sedentary Sternorrhyncha such as scale insects, which have no means of escaping from predators; other Sternorrhyncha evade detection and attack by creating and living inside plant galls. Nymphal Cicadoidea and Cercopoidea have glands attached to
2530-440: The position of the rostrum . "Homoptera" was established as paraphyletic group and an obsolete name. The order is now divided into four suborders, Heteroptera , Sternorrhyncha , Auchenorrhyncha , and Coleorrhyncha . The earlier work was based on nuclear DNA , but later phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA suggests that Homoptera may be monophyletic after all, a sister group of Heteroptera . The cause of
2585-417: The possession of only a few stout spines on the hind tibiae , where leafhoppers have a series of small spines. Members of the family Machaerotidae greatly resemble treehoppers , due to a large thoracic spine, but the spine in machaerotids is an enlargement of the scutellum , where treehoppers have the pronotum enlarged. Members of the family Clastopteridae have their wings modified to form false heads at
2640-455: The prey. Both pumps are powered by substantial dilator muscles in the head. The beak is usually folded under the body when not in use. The diet is typically plant sap , but some hemipterans such as assassin bugs are predators . Both herbivorous and predatory hemipterans inject enzymes to begin digestion extra-orally (before the food is taken into the body). These enzymes include amylase to hydrolyse starch , polygalacturonase to weaken
2695-435: The roots via the xylem . The large amount of excess water that must be excreted and the evolution of special breathing tubes allow the young spittlebug nymphs to grow in the relatively protective environment of the spittle. Normally an animal should not be able to survive on a diet so low in nutrients, but the insects' digestive system contains symbiotic bacteria that provide them with the essential amino acids. The foam serves
2750-576: The suborder Heteroptera . Entomologists reserve the term bug for Hemiptera or Heteroptera, 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 . Many insects with "bug" in their common name , especially in American English , belong to other orders; for example,
2805-602: The tail end, an antipredator adaptation. Many adult Cercopidae can bleed reflexively from their tarsi , and the hemolymph appears to be distasteful; they are often aposematically colored. The oldest froghoppers are known from the Early Jurassic . Mesozoic froghoppers are divided into two main families, Procercopidae known from the Early Jurassic to early Late Cretaceous of Asia, which are thought to be ancestral to living froghoppers, and Sinoalidae , which
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#17327808544282860-401: The tarsi of the legs have two or three segments. Many hemipterans can produce sound for communication. The "song" of male cicadas, the loudest of any insect, is produced by tymbal organs on the underside of the abdomen, and is used to attract mates. The tymbals are drumlike disks of cuticle, which are clicked in and out repeatedly, making a sound in the same way as popping the metal lid of
2915-406: The tough cell walls of plants, and proteinases to break down proteins. Although the Hemiptera vary widely in their overall form, their mouthparts form a distinctive "rostrum". Other insect orders with mouthparts modified into anything like the rostrum and stylets of the Hemiptera include some Phthiraptera , but for other reasons they generally are easy to recognize as non-hemipteran. Similarly,
2970-800: The true bugs of Hemiptera. Within Paraneoptera, Hemiptera is most closely related to the sister clade Thysanoptera. The fossil record of hemipterans goes back to the Carboniferous ( Moscovian ). The oldest fossils are of the Archescytinidae from the Lower Permian and are thought to be basal to the Auchenorrhyncha . Fulgoromorpha and Cicadomorpha appear in the Upper Permian , as do Sternorrhyncha of
3025-584: Was considered a single family, the Cercopidae , but this family has been split into three families for many years now: the Aphrophoridae , Cercopidae , and Clastopteridae . The family Epipygidae has been removed from the Aphrophoridae by some authors (e.g.), but retained within Aphrophoridae by subsequent authors (e.g.). These families are best known for the nymphal stage, which produces
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