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Plant-lice, Scale Insects, True Bugs, Etc

(Order Hemiptera.)

This is another of the old and great orders of insects. It is one of the original Linnean orders and comprises those insects known as the true bugs, true lice and scale insects. Nearly 20,000 species have been described, but, as with the other big orders, very many more yet remain to be studied, probably at least three times as many as are now known.

Although extremely variable in form and structure, all of the Hemiptera have the mouth-parts formed for piercing and sucking (not biting) and their metamorphoses are incomplete, the young bug being active and formed much like the old one. In those which have wings the wings are of two distinct types. In one suborder the forewings are thickened at the base and the thinner end parts lap over on the back. In the other type the forewings are of about the same thickness throughout and are usually held in repose sloping in a roof-shaped manner at the sides of the body.

The order as a whole is a most injurious one in its relations with man. Although some of the true bugs prey upon injurious insects the destruction of plants accomplished by others offsets by far this benefit. In fact Sharp says: "if anything were to exterminate the enemies of Hemiptera, we ourselves should probably be starved in the course of a few months."

The Hemiptera are divided into three suborders which we shall consider separately. They are distinguished as follows:

Table of Suborders

Beak jointed, hard and horny . . . . . 1

Beak unjointed, fleshy . . . . . 2

1--Wings when present of the same thickness throughout and held usually in a sloping position at the sides of the body; beak inserted at the hinder part of the head . . . . . Suborder Homoptera

Forewings thickened at base, with thinner extremities which overlap; beak inserted on the front part of the head . . . . . Suborder Heteroptera

2--Wingless species, parasitic upon man and animals (the true lice) . . . . . Suborder Anoplura