Hemisys - half; pteron - wing; referring to the fact that many of its members have the basal half of the fore wings thicker than the distal half.

Permian to Recent.

Derived characteristics:

• mandiblulary and maxillary stylets coadapted, containing alimentary and salivary canals, enclosed in segmented labium

Other characteristics:

• holocentric chromosomes

Hemiptera (hemiptera) is prey of:
Spermophilus tridecemlineatus
Araneae
Bartramia longicauda
Sturnella neglecta
Pooecetes gramineus
Spizella passerina
Spizella pallida
Eremophila alpestris
Anura
Thamnophis
Coleoptera
Diptera
Hemiptera
Nematocera imagines
Myiarchus
Tyrannidae
Cyanocitta stelleri
Leucosticte atrata
Anthus spinoletta
Calcarius mccownii
Calcarius ornatus
Calamospiza melanocorys
Asilidae
Saurothera vieilloti
Otus nudipes
Eleutherodactylus coqui
Eleutherodactylus richmondi
Eleutherodactylus portoricensis
Eleutherodactylus wightmanae
Melanerpes portoricensis
Todus mexicanus
Margarops fuscatus
Anolis evermanni
Anolis stratulus
Anolis gundlachi
Leptodactylus albilabris
Myiarchus antillarum
Vireo latimeri
Nesospingus speculiferus
Vireo altiloquus
Seiurus motacilla
Sphaerodactylus macrolepis
Parula americana
Dendroica caerulescens
Odonata
Hymenoptera
Eptesicus fuscus
Tyrannus dominicensis
Elaenia
Dendroica petechia
Coereba flaveola
Anolis gingivinus
Anolis pogus

Based on studies in:
Canada: Manitoba (Grassland)
Russia (Agricultural)
Puerto Rico, El Verde (Rainforest)
USA: Arizona (Forest, Montane)
USA: Montana (Tundra)
USA: California, Cabrillo Point (Grassland)
USA: Florida, South Florida (Swamp)
USA: Illinois (Forest)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Hemiptera (hemiptera) preys on:
Helianthus
Agropyron
Stipa
leaves
roots
Copepoda
Cladocera
Plectoptera
Odonata
Hemiptera
Psectrocladius
Rotifera
Chironomidae
shrubs
grass
herbs
alpine vegetation
Artemisia frigida
Bouteloua gracilis
Psoralidium tenuiflorum
Heterotheca canescens
Aristida purpurea
Carex
Pascopyrum smithii
Gutierrezia
Ratibida columnifera
Coleoptera
Collembola
Lepidoptera
live wood
fruit
fungi
live leaves
seeds
Auchenorrhyncha
Sternorrhyncha
Thysanoptera
Hymenoptera
Diptera

Based on studies in:
Canada: Manitoba (Grassland)
New Zealand (Grassland)
USA: Illinois (Forest)
Puerto Rico, El Verde (Rainforest)
USA: Florida, South Florida (Swamp)
Russia (Agricultural)
USA: Arizona (Forest, Montane)
USA: Montana (Tundra)
USA: California, Cabrillo Point (Grassland)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / honeydew feeder
superficial pseudothecium of Chaetothyrium babingtonii feeds on honeydew Homoptera

Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Crossocerus annulipes stocks nest with Homoptera

Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Didineis lunicornis stocks nest with Homoptera

Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Mimesa equestris stocks nest with Homoptera

Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Mimesa lutaria stocks nest with Homoptera

Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Mimumesa dahlbomi stocks nest with nymph of Homoptera

Animal / honeydew feeder
Seuratia millardetii feeds on honeydew Homoptera

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / predator / stocks nest with
female of Dryudella pinguis stocks nest with Hemiptera

Periodic emergence synchronized: cicadas
 

The emergence of cicadas may be triggered by their sensing of cyclical cues from nearby tree roots.

       
  "Three species of cicada (genus Magicicada) with remarkable rhythms live in the United States. In the south, nymphs spend 13 years underground before emerging within a few days of each other and transforming into adults. In the north, the nymph stage lasts 17 years…However, recent studies suggest that the cicadas may use cues from nearby tree roots (such as sap quality, which varies cyclically) to time their emergence." (Shuker 2001:97)

  Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Symbiosis provides nutrients: cicadas
 

The nutrient-poor diet of cicadas is supplemented thanks to specialized bacterial symbionts.

     
  "In collaboration with his post-doctoral research advisor Nancy Moran —  who has NSF support to study insects — McCutcheon  began observing the relationship between cicadas and the symbiotic bacteria that live  inside them…

"'Certain cicada species occur in overwhelming numbers,' he says. 'And  they are estimated to the most abundant herbivores in terms of both  their total weight and the total number of individuals in some North  American forests.'
 
 "But even more amazingly, cicadas achieve such success despite their  reliance on a nutrient-poor diet. Most species of cicada spend most of  their lives (from two to 17 years) underground before emerging en masse  at regular intervals. While underground, cicadas feed solely on the sap  of plant roots, which is the most nutrient-poor and unbalanced part of  plants.
 
 "So how do cicadas gather the nutrients they need to survive, despite  their low-nutrient diet? McCutcheon says that cicadas supplement their  diet by maintaining complicated relationships with two species of  specialized bacteria [Sulcia muelleri and Hodgkinia cicadicola] that live inside their cells. The bacteria produce  essential nutrients for the cicadas that the animals neither receive  from their sap diets nor produce themselves…these bacteria have extreme and unique features." (Whiteman 2009)

  Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Flotation in turbulent waters: Heteropterid bugs
 

Water insects maintain flotation in turbulent waters thanks to an undersurface coating of water-repellent hairs.

         
  "Among the most superficially aquatic and numerous insects of freshwater areas are various Heteropterid bugs, such as pond-skaters, water-measurers and water-crickets. lnsects like these seldom even get their feet wet since they are able to stride or run over the water's surface by using its surface tension, in which they scarcely make a dent. Since all of the bugs' life is spent in this way, they need no special adaptations for an aquatic habitat, apart from an undersurface of water-repellent hairs which prevents immersion in turbulent conditions." (Wootton 1984:132)

"Recent studies showed that the most crucial criterion [for achieving the 'Lotus Effect'] mainly relies on roughening the surface into multiple length scales of roughness so that liquid droplets can be retained in the Cassie-Baxter state, where air pockets are trapped underneath the liquid, reducing the solid-liquid interface. These hierarchically structured surfaces have been fabricated through various routes and demonstrated to have superhydrophobic properties as well. This amazing water-repellent property is also found in other biological systems comprising a plurality of flexible hairs, and some of them have been recognized for over 100 years. Fuzzy leaves, such as the Lady’s Mantle, cause water droplets to form perfect spheres and allow them to roll off easily as a result of being lifted and suspended by coming into contact with the hairs. In the animal kingdom, this piliferous exterior plays a more crucial role for numerous living creatures not only to effectively protect their bodies from getting wet but also to provide various functions for their living activity. These hairs protrude several micrometers from their cuticles, typically inclined at certain angles, with diameters in the micrometer to submicrometer range. These structures can resist the impact of raindrops, allow locomotion on the surface of water, or even trap a layer of air for respiration when submerged. Some arthropods have been shown to have contact angles above 150^o, which allows them to walk on water." (Hsu and Sigmund 2010:1504)
  Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Insects cycle nutrients: periodic cicadas
 

Bodies of Magicicada cicadas provide mass pulses of nutrients that encourage growth of the forest trees they feed on thanks to their periodical lifecycle.

     
  "Forest trees in the eastern USA grow quicker in years after large numbers of cicadas have emerged. Cicadas spend most of their lives underground, where they consume tree root juices, depriving leaves of valuable nutrients. Some periodical species then emerge en masse every 13 or 17 years and feast on tender tree branches before laying their eggs and dying. Now Louie Yang at the University of California at Davis has established that, in dying en masse in this way, the insects provide a deluge of compost that fertilises forest soils and helps trees grow faster. Yang applied various densities of dead cicadas to 1-metre-square forest plots. After a month, plots laden with a typical 240 cicadas contained more microbes, three times the concentration of available ammonium and 2.5 times the concentration of nitrates compared with untreated plots." (Courtesy of the Biomimicry Guild)

"Resource pulses are occasional events of ephemeral resource superabundance that occur in many ecosystems. Aboveground consumers in diverse communities often respond strongly to resource pulses, but few studies have
investigated the belowground consequences of resource pulses in natural ecosystems. This study shows that resource pulses of 17-year periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) directly increase microbial biomass and nitrogen availability in forest soils, with indirect effects on growth and reproduction in forest plants. These findings suggest that pulses of periodical cicadas create 'bottomup cascades,' resulting in strong and reciprocal links between the aboveground and belowground components of a North American forest ecosystem." (Yang 2004:1565)

  Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Collection Sites: world map showing specimen collection locations for Hemiptera

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
                                                             

Specimen Records:	38,808
Specimens with Sequences:	21,036
Specimens with Barcodes:	18,987
Public Records:	6,007
Species:	4,865
Species With Barcodes:	2,491

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats

Download FASTA File

Download FASTA File