Introduction to Bugs (Hemiptera)

[All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on any thumbnail for a large format to be displayed. The animal's English name is usually specified, provided it has one. The scientific name is always mentioned in the caption of the photograph.]

Proceed to the bug pages:
1 Shieldbugs
2 Plantbugs
3 Other real bugs
4 Cicadas
5 Plant Lice

All Hemiptera have needle shaped jaws. This needle is used to stick into animals or plants and to suck up the juices. There are three groups: the real bugs, the cicadas and the plant lice, also called green flies. The larvae resemble the adults very much with one exception: the wings. Hemiptera do not start their life looking like a caterpillar or maggot but just like with dragon flies, the young form is called nymph. This also implies that there is no pupal stage for these animals.

To the left: bugs may live on plants, in the water, but on the surface of water as well, just like this famous Pond Skater. To the right: baby bugs resemble their parents. The exceptions are the colour and the lack the wings.

Scientifically the Hemiptera consists of two rather different groups: the true bugs (or Heteroptera) and the cicadas and green flies (Homoptera). The true bugs have two pairs of wings. The upper wing is quite remarkable as it is made of two parts: a firm part first and a much softer membranous second half. The lower wing is membranous entirely and looks like the wings of all insects. The Homoptera have four wings as well. The upperwing in cicadas is either membranous or looks like the beetle's shields. The second pair is entirely membranous. Green flies have two pairs of membranous wings, resembling the wings of flies or wasps. However many are wingless as well. Because of the huge difference between true bugs and green flies some people believe these actually belong to two separate orders.

A shield bug to your left, and a green fly to your right. Actually they do not like one another at all.

All bugs are rather small animals, especially in our part of the world. Some may reach almost 3 centimeters, most species however are much smaller. Cicadas are even smaller than true bugs, only some species in the Mediterranean are bigger, especially the ones singing at night. Plant lice are all small to very small indeed. Many true bugs suck on plants, but there are also lots of predators and scavengers. An unusually large number suck on both plants and other animals. Some, like the infamous bedbug, even suck on people or other mammals. Many bugs are unwanted vistors in gardens or in agriculture. Plant lice are the worst, but some cicadas present a problem on potatoe plants and some shield bugs suck on apples and cabbage. Moreover, lots of shield bugs leave behind them a smelly trail of liquid they produce, resulting in bad tasting berries for instance. Some cicadas inject poison into their host plant making it sick. Plant lice are unwanted because they often appear in such great numbers that the infected plants become exhausted and die. Furthermore some cicadas spread infectious deseases, such as milldew, by transporting the spores of the fungus from plant to plant. However other species are very benificial, such as some shield bugs feeding on beetles and plant lice. Arme custos below, for instance, is bred to deal with harmful weevils.

Some bugs like the Common Green Capsid to the left are harmful insects, while others, such as Arma custos to the right are very useful to fight the weevils.

Proceed to the bug pages: 1 Shieldbugs 2 Plantbugs 3 Other real bugs 4 Cicadas 5 Plant Lice

Thanks to Dr. Wolfgang Rabitsch, Keith Edkins, Wim Bloemberg, J. Baugnee, Gaby & Jos (Koninklijke Antwerpse Vereniging voor Entomologie), Berend Aukema and Gerrit Tyberghein for their help identifying various species.