True Bugs

The Order Hemiptera, also known as True Bugs, represents an enormous variety of insects worldwide, including the loudest insects on the planet (Cicadas), as well as many ornately and colorfully decorated species of treehoppers, stink bugs, and leafhoppers. Worldwide there are somewhere around 100,000 described species and many entomologists estimate there are at least another 100,000 still to be discovered. In the past this Order was limited to what is now considered a suborder (Heteroptera), however recent molecular data has combined this group of True Bugs with what used to be considered another Order, the Homoptera.  The Homoptera iincluded what is now considered suborders Auchenorrhyncha (True Hoppers) and Sternorrhyncha (Plant-parasitic Hemipterans). The one unifying character for all these true bugs is that they all have mouthparts that form a structure called a rostrum, which has little piercing parts at the tip to break the tissue of whatever organism it is feeding on.  Inside the rostrum are two separate tubes – one that flows outward to deliver saliva or venom and another that flows inwards with liquid food. While most Hemipterans feed on plant sap, some feed on blood or predate other invertebrates.

The taxa listed below have been added to the list based on museum collections or verifiable observations.  Most specimens are housed in the GMDRC museum collection or at the UC Riverside Entomology Museum.  Taxa that have only been observed (marked with *) are only added to the list if there is a certain level of confidence on the ID and it represents a taxon that had not previously been recorded here.  A taxon labeled with “indet. sp.” indicates it was indeterminable beyond a certain rank.  Each scientific name is linked to a profile page on the Iowa State University BugGuide. To learn more about the species, click on the double arrow (⇒) to the right of the scientific name; this will take you to  the iNaturalist taxon page, which may show locations of observations, photos, and other natural history details. This list can be downloaded as a pdf (coming soon!).