A guide to the fascinating world of hemipteran insects which includes bugs, hoppers, scales and sucking insects (with pictures)

1. Devina Seram, Ph. D.
Agricultural Entomology

2.  Mouthparts : Piercing and sucking
 Antennae : short, bristle-like to long & filiform
 Size : a few mm up to 20 cm
 Diet : liquid-rich, phloem feeders – filter chamber system
 Metamorphosis : Hemimetabolous - pupal-like stages
 Reproduction : Parthenogenetic & oviparous
 Nymphs : gregarious - resemble adults, reduced wings

3. Mechanical defenses
 Waxes & powders secretion
 Water proofing role
 Lipid secretions from cornicles
Wind borne dispersal
 Dactylopiidae, Eriococcidae, Margarodidae - dispersed by wind
 Aulacaspis tegalensis - move to tips of cane leaves - readily
dislodged by wind
Phoresy
1st instars ♀ of gall-forming Eriococcid, Cystococcus
echiniformis - phoretic on winged ♂ (Gullan & Kosztarab, 1997)
Wingless forms and nymphs - often transported
by attending ants

4. Hemiptera
HeteropteraHomoptera
Series I
Coleorrhyncha
Series II
Auchenorrhyncha
Series III
Sternorrhyncha
Series I
Geocorisae
Series II
Amphibicorisae
Series III
Hydrocorisae

5. Auchenorrhyncha Sternorrhyncha
Fulgoroidea
- Delphacidae
- Fulgoridae
Cercopoidea
- Cercopidae
Cicadoidea
- Cicadidae
Cicadelloidea
- Membracidae
- Cicadellidae
Psylloidea
- Psyllidae
Aleyrodoidea
- Aleyrodidae
Aphidoidea
- Aphididae
- Phylloxeridae
Coccoidea
- Coccidae
- Pseudococcidae
- Diaspididae

6. Hydrocorisae Ampibicorisae Geocorisae
Notonectidae
Corixidae
Belastomatidae
Nepidae
Hydrometridae
Gerridae
Veliidae
Cimicidae
Reduviidae
Pentatomidae
Lygaeidae
Coreidae
Tingitidae
Miridae

7.  recognized by large, flattened spur at apex
of hind tibiae
 eggs deposited inside plant tissues,
elliptical, colourless to whitish
 nymphs with under-developed
wing pads
Nymph
Eggs

8. Antennae inserted on sides & beneath eyes
Some spp. secrete large quantities of wax
Wax-tail hopper - Pterodictya reticularis
 Eggs laid on tree surface and covered with
waxy substances – like egg case
nymphs often forms long filaments
presumably for protection

9.  eggs laid in mass
 Nymphs - surround themselves with frothy mass
- Foam made from fluid voided from anus & from a mucilaginous
substance secreted by epidermal glands on 7th & 8th abdominal segments
 Air bubbles introduced into foam by means of caudal appendages
 Adults do not produce foam
Nymph

10.  Insert eggs in living or dead twigs of trees,
shrubs & grasses
 Nymphs - hatches in a month & drop to ground
- 13 to 17 years
 Last nymphal instar climbs up on tree & final
moult takes place
 Massive & enlarged
pincher-like forelegs
- adapted for digging
and grasping
New
Older

11.  Eggs laid individually or in groups
 Eggs overwinter & hatch in spring
Nymphs drop to vegetation - complete their development
Nymphal stage - thorax with tubercles or spines
Nymphs - absence of pronotal process, but filaments
or spinose projections often developed on tergites
 Camouflage – different forms
Membracis foliata ♀ laying eggs and
covering with white substances

12.  Eggs either remain dormant (month to a year) or develop, hatch within few
weeks
 Nymphs feed on sap - inserting stylets into tissues
 Series of 5 moults - reaching adult stage
Special adaptation in nymph:
 Jumping hind tibiae with 2 or more rows of spines
 capable of powerful leaps (search for food & avoid predators)
- large eyes for excellent visual - avoid detection/capture by
potential predators
- can detect reflectance spectrum of several colors, with hues
of yellow being most attractive (Tipping et al. 2004)

13. Several species produce white chalky material known as brochosomes
(placed on wings)
After eggs have been deposited into plant, females
then scrape this material to "powder" the area
 process known as "POWDERING.“
(Rakitov, 2007)
Egg mass with chalky
white brochosomes
Potato leafhopper nymph
Leafhopper –freshly
emerged after molt
Rose leafhopper nymph

14. 

15.  Rudimentary filter chamber and four Malphigian tubules
 Not phloem specialists - feed on xylem and mesophyll
(Gullan, P.J. & Martin, J.H, 2003)
 Eggs pedunculate - draw water from host plants & placed on exposed surfaces of
leaves
Nymphs :
 Hind legs fitted for leaping - ability to jump
(jumping plant lice)
 Many species produce large amounts of
white waxy secretion - resemble woolly aphids

16.  Nymphs - flat and possess large wing pads and often
have marginal fringe surrounding abdomen
 5 nymphal instars - nymphs of some species live
under sugary covers called “lerps”, while others
free-living or enclosed in galls (Hodkinson, I.D. 1974)
 Constructing a lerp - protection cover
- formed from sugar and wax excreted by insects
- these materials harden on contact with air to form lerps
- Lerps vary in size, colour and shape - cones, univalves,
bivalves or fan & white to dark brown
Lerps
Galls

17.  Eggs pedunculate - attached by short stalk & deposited on
underside of leaves - in circle or crescent
Nymphs
 4 larval instars – only 1st instar with developed legs – “crawler”
 Subsequent instars sessile
 Wings develop internally during metamorphosis
 4th instar - also known as "pupal case“ or "puparium"
Differentiate - presence of vasiform orifice, operculum & ligula
Larvae and pupae of some species covered with
various types of wax, while others devoid
of wax

18.  hdhhdhdh
All life stages of greenhouse
whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum
A: egg, B: crawler, C-E: larval
stages, F: puparium, G: adult

19. Life cycle
 Holocyclic - viviparous parthenogenesis alternating
with sexual reproduction - most common reproductive strategy
Some spp. (crop pest) - warm climate, anholocyclic lack sexual reprodn.
 In typical life cycle, fundatrix ♀ hatch from overwintering eggs
 Fundatrices are parthenogenic, viviparous, often apterous, in turn produce
more parthenogenic, viviparous ♀, both alate & apterous
 Parthenogenesis - often repeated before sexual reproduction - last
parthenogenetic generation produces
♂ & sexual oviparous ♀
 Without egg stage

20.  Cornicles – secrete defensive wax fluid - triacylglycerols
 In some species - body covered with white waxy fibers – secreted
by dermal glands
 Saltatorial leg modifications - poorly developed or absent in few spp.
frequently associated with ants (Kloft, 1959)
 Excrete honeydew from anus – produced in sufficient quantity to cause
surface to become sticky
 Structural adaptation of myrmecophilous aphids – group of setae in anal
region - hold honeydew droplet while ant imbibes it

21.  Corn root aphid (Anuraphis maidiradicis) – relationship with ants
- eggs pass winter in nests of field ants, Lasius sp
- Spring - ants carry nymphs to roots of smartweed /other weeds – feed
 Later in season, ants transfer aphids to roots of corn
- When aphid eggs are laid – gathered by ants &
stored in their nest for winter

22.  Brevicoryne brassicae stores and releases chemicals
- produce a violent chemical reaction & strong mustard oil
smell - repel predators
Gall forming aphids
 Form gall & live inside gall - provides protection from predators
 Known to produce specialized "soldier" forms - sterile nymphs with
defensive features which defend gall from invasion
eg. Alexander's horned aphids - type of soldier aphid having hard
exoskeleton and Pincer -like mouthparts
 Infestation of variety of Chinese trees by Melaphis chinensis
- create a "Chinese gall" - valued as commercial product
 In woolly & gall making aphids, reduced cornicles or absent
& wax glands abundant

23.  Overwinters in egg stage
 In early spring - nymph hatches and migrates to developing
leaf to feed - causes irritation in plant tissues - gall formed
 When mature - ♀ produces numerous parthenogenetic
young ones – migrate to form new galls
 After few generations, some fall on ground - burrow into roots to feed
 In midsummer - winged adults emerge from ground - lay eggs on vines
- develop into true ♀ and ♂
 After mating - ♀ lay single egg on vine completing life cycle
Eggs inside leaf gall
Nymphs inside gall
Galls

24.  Some spp. oviparous - others viviparous
 When eggs laid - placed in loose, cottony wax
 ♀ excrete large amount of honeydew
 In arid regions - honeydew solidifies on leaves - accumulates in thick layer
forming sweet, sugar-like material called “Manna”
 Survives cold conditions as eggs in ovisac or other stages - host plant / soil
 Warm climates - insects remain active and reproduce round the year

25.  Lay eggs under scale / produce live young ones there
 1st instar nymphs mobile - ‘crawlers’
 After 1st moult – legs & antennae often lost, become sessile
 Waxy or scale like covering secreted covering body
 ♂ develop like ♀ except last instar - quiescent & called false pupa
 Wings develop externally in pupa
 Stellate scale - Vinsonia stellifera (Westwood)
- adult ♀ and immature stages covered with
semi-transparent to white wax

26. Eggs oval and reddish-orange
crawlers crawl to and settle on host plants
After settling - nymphs insert mouthparts into plant
- secrete wax in tufts around body that give them star-like
appearance
Association with ants
 honeydew production - most coccoids facultatively
ant-attended

27.  Fibrous scale cover produced - incorporating exuviae of previous stage
 Scale like covering separated from body
 1st instar mobile - locates a feeding site before settling to feed
- Begin secreting waxy cover
 2nd instar incorporates exuviae & waxy cover of
1st instar into its own scale cover - adds material to outer edge to
increase its diameter covering growing insect
(Williams and Watson, 1988)
1st instar motile
nymph - ventral
eggs

28. Body broad and flat - without wing pads – parasitic
Feed only on Blood – Mammals or Birds
 Attach small (1 mm long ) whitish eggs to surfaces in
places where bugs hide in loose clusters
 5 Nymphal instars ( Need >1 blood meal each instar )
 Life Cycle 4-5 weeks @75-80% RH; 83-90o F
 lay 200-500 eggs in lifetime
 Mating – “Traumatic” Insemination
 Cimex lectularius – temperate and subtropical
 C. lotudatus - tropical Africa and Asia

29.  Predaceous and feed upon insects
 Some species invade habitations in search of insects,
household pests - often inflict wounds on humans
 Fore legs somewhat thickened
 eggs laid on leaves undersurface
– brightly coloured

30.  Body broad and oval with more than 3 dorsal
and abdominal segments with scent glands
 3 Segmented tarsi
 5 Segmented antenna
 Mostly herbivores - few predators on
lepidoptera larvae
 eggs laid in groups – barrel shaped – variously
coloured

31.  mostly destructive to crops
 some spp. (eg. Geocoiis) predaceous on other injurious
insects
 Antennae inserted high on side of head - about the position of
upper half of eye
 eggs in groups – barrel shaped
 Largus nymphs scavenging a paper wasp
- Many phytophagous heteropterans scavenge dead Nymph

32.  destructive to crops
 nymphs often associated with adults
 Antennae inserted low on side of head - about the position of
lower half of eyes
 eggs laid on plant surface
- singly, oval
Nymph

33.  plant feeders
 eggs laid in plant surfaces
- in groups, elliptical,
dark coloured
 nymphs with spines on upper body surface
 meso- and metapleuron fused into a
single piece
Nymph with spines
on body

34.  mostly plant feeders – some predacious
 tarnished plant bug, Lygus oblineatus (Say)
Creontiades pallidus (Rambur) carry plant diseases
 Body not spinous
 meso and metapleuron distinct
 eggs laid singly, attached on plant tissue
– elongated
Nymph
egg

35.  Eggs laid on or in tissue of plants
 natatorial or swimming legs
 middle and hind legs covered with long hairs
- hind legs oar-like
- front legs adapted for holding prey
 Plastron respiration : trap air bubble with hairs on body
 prey on other insects, snails and small fish
 fore tarsi with 2 claws
 common around edges of fresh
water ponds, lakes, streams

36.  Eggs laid on aquatic plants or other objects
 herbivore detritivores, omnivores, predators or scavengers
depending on prey species
 breathe air when at the surface of water - plastron
respiration under water
 unique beak design does not restrict to consuming only juices
as in most other Hemipterans
Organism Where it
lives
What it eats How it
moves
Adaptation
Water
boatman
Mid-
water
Shrimp,
worms,
tadpoles
Rows
using
legs
Paddling legs,
hair-lined body
traps air

37.  fore legs raptorial - middle and hind legs long and linear
 predacious and usually awaiting for prey
 respire through a long caudal breathing tube or snorkel
 poor swimmers - mostly inhabit aquatic vegetation and
debris of lentic waters
 Eggs laid on aquatic plant – with respiratory horns
Nymph

38.  fore legs short and raptorial - middle and hind legs for swimming
 obtain oxygen through a pair of retractile strap-like
appendages located at tip of abdomen
 Tarsi 2-segmented - apical appendages of abdomen short
and flat
 live in fresh water - feed on small aquatic animals
 Males of genera Belastoma and Abedus carry eggs on
their backs (females glue eggs there) until they hatch

39.  body slender - head as long as entire thorax
 creep slowly upon water surface
 eggs laid on plants - nearby water source
 nymphs feed on small insects
Nymph

40.  predaceous and feed upon insects that fall
into water - sometimes jump to capture preys
 adapted long, paddle-like legs to ‘skate’
 Advantage of surface tension that lies
between water and air
 spiracles
 stomach covered with water-repellent hairs to prevent direct
contact between body and water
Organism Where it lives What it eats How it moves Adaptation
Pond
skater
Pond
surface
Dead plants
and animals
Skates across
water surface
Long splayed legs,
water-repellent
hairs
projections
on surface
of eggshell

41.  distal segment of tarsi (fore leg) cleft – claws
inserted before apex
- hind femur not extending much beyond
apex of abdomen
 predacious and live on water surface
 Beak 3-segmented
 eggs laid in aquatic vegetation - eggs glued
lengthwise to floating water plants
Nymph
Eggs

42.  Thrive in different habitats
 Survival of the fittest
 Survive under adverse environmental conditions
 Protection from predators
Nymph

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