True Bugs
Order Hemiptera
366 speciesDistinguished by their piercing-sucking mouthparts. Includes cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs.
Species in this Order
Leaf-Footed Assassin Bug
Psytalla horrida
A fearsome-looking African assassin bug covered in spines and tubercles. It is one of the most heavi...
Leaf-footed Bug
Leptoglossus occidentalis
A medium to large brown bug with a distinctive white zigzag band across the wings and flattened, lea...
Lesser Water Boatman
Sigara striata
A small water boatman with fine dark striations across its forewings. It is among the most abundant ...
Lined Stink Bug
Banasa dimidiata
A small green shield-shaped stink bug with a rounded body found on a wide variety of deciduous trees...
Locust Treehopper
Thelia bimaculata
A large, dull-colored treehopper found on black locust trees across eastern North America. It produc...
Long-Nosed Lanternfly
Pyrops sultanus
A large Malaysian lanternfly with an extremely elongated head projection and colorful spotted wings....
Long-tailed Mealybug
Pseudococcus longispinus
A waxy white mealybug distinguished by long tail filaments that can equal or exceed its body length....
Lyric Cicada
Neotibicen lyricen
A medium-large cicada with a lyre-shaped marking on the dorsal thorax that gives it its name. Its ca...
Madagascan Flatid Leaf Bug
Phromnia rosea
Nymphs cluster together on stems to form structures resembling pink and white flower blossoms. Each ...
Madagascar Lantern Bug
Zanna madagascariensis
A large planthopper with a bulbous snout-like head projection and colorful spotted hindwings. The fo...
Madagascar Spittle Bug
Bourgoinrana madagascariensis
A small, dark planthopper that produces frothy spittle masses on plant stems as a nymph. Adults are ...
Mahajanga Cicada
Yanga mahajangaensis
A recently described cicada species from northwestern Madagascar with brownish transparent wings and...
Malagasy Mottled Cicada
Yanga argyrea
A silvery-gray cicada with mottled wing patterns that provide excellent camouflage against tree bark...
Malagasy Pill Millipede Assassin Bug
Physorhynchus crux
A dark-bodied assassin bug with a characteristic cross-shaped marking on its thorax. It has robust f...
Mango Mealybug
Drosicha mangiferae
A large, soft-bodied mealybug covered in white waxy secretions that infests mango trees. Nymphs craw...
Marsh Damsel Bug
Nabis limbatus
A small, slender predatory bug found in damp grassland and marshy areas. Ambushes prey on vegetation...
Marsh Treader
Hydrometra stagnorum
An extremely slender, stick-like bug with a greatly elongated head. It walks slowly across floating ...
Masked Devil Cicada
Cyclochila virens
A large Australian cicada with vivid green coloring and a loud, piercing call. It is closely related...
Mexican Kissing Bug
Triatoma dimidiata
A major Chagas disease vector in Central America and Mexico found in both domestic and peridomestic ...
Milkweed Assassin Bug
Zelus longipes
A slender, brightly colored assassin bug with red and black markings. It is a generalist predator co...
Milkweed Bug
Oncopeltus fasciatus
A medium-sized bug with bold orange-red and black warning coloration. It feeds on milkweed seeds and...
Minmin Cicada
Hyalessa maculaticollis
A Japanese cicada known as 'minminzemi' with a green and black body and transparent wings. Its disti...
Moss Bug
Peloridium hammoniorum
A tiny, flattened, living fossil found only in moist moss and liverwort beds in the Southern Hemisph...
Mountain Cicada
Cicadetta montana
One of the few cicadas found at high elevations in Europe. Males produce a high-pitched continuous s...
Mountain Lace Bug
Derephysia foliacea
A tiny bug with lace-like wing patterns found on alpine herbs. Its transparent, sculptured wings are...
Mountain Leafhopper
Cicadella montana
A bright green leafhopper found on mountain herbs and shrubs. It feeds on plant phloem sap and can j...
Mountain Seed Bug
Nysius helveticus
A small seed bug found in alpine and subalpine grasslands across Europe. It feeds on seeds and sap o...
Mountain Shieldbug
Canthophorus impressus
A small, dark brown to black burrowing shieldbug found in Arctic and alpine habitats. It has a broad...
Negro Bug
Thyreocoris scarabaeoides
A tiny shiny black hemispherical bug that looks like a miniature beetle. It feeds on violets and str...
Neotropical Backswimmer
Buenoa antigone
A small aquatic bug that swims upside-down using its long oar-like hind legs. Its pale ventral surfa...
Neotropical Bee Assassin
Apiomerus pictipes
A stout, colorful assassin bug that specializes in capturing bees and wasps visiting flowers. Its br...
Neotropical Cotton Stainer
Dysdercus peruvianus
A bright red and black seed bug that feeds on cotton bolls and malvaceous plants. Its feeding stains...
Neotropical Green Stink Bug
Nezara viridula
A bright green shield bug with a wide, flat body and triangular scutellum. It is one of the most des...
Neotropical Lace Bug
Leptopharsa heveae
A tiny transparent-winged lace bug that feeds on rubber trees in South American plantations. Its win...
Neotropical Shield Bug
Edessa meditabunda
A medium-sized green and brown shield-shaped stink bug common in South American agriculture. It is a...
Neotropical Toe-Biter
Belostoma elongatum
A large aquatic predatory bug with flattened body and powerful raptorial forelegs. It is common in S...
New Zealand Cicada
Kikihia muta
A small endemic cicada from New Zealand notable for being silent - it has lost the ability to produc...
North American Backswimmer
Notonecta undulata
A common backswimmer across North America that hunts by floating upside down at the surface. Its lar...
North American Water Scorpion
Ranatra fusca
A stick-like aquatic predator found in ponds and marshes across eastern North America. It walks slow...
Oak Lace Bug
Corythucha arcuata
A small whitish lace bug with darkened wing markings that feeds on oak trees. It is native to North ...
Oak Leafhopper
Typhlocyba quercus
A tiny pale green leafhopper found on oak trees. Feeds by piercing leaf cells, causing pale stipplin...
Oak Treehopper
Platycotis vittata
A colorful treehopper that feeds on oak twigs in eastern North America. Females exhibit maternal car...
Ocean Strider
Halobates micans
A remarkable open-ocean water strider that spends its entire life on the surface of tropical seas. I...
Oleander Aphid
Aphis nerii
A bright yellow aphid with black cornicles and legs that feeds on oleander, milkweed, and other plan...
Orange Assassin Bug
Platymeris rhadamanthus
A large black assassin bug with striking orange-red markings on the connexivum and legs. Found in Ea...
Ornate Derbid
Cedusa ornata
A tiny planthopper with delicate wings featuring intricate brown patterning. Adults have characteris...
Ornate Shieldbug
Eurydema ornata
A vividly patterned shield bug with highly variable red, orange, white, or yellow markings on a blac...
Pallid Kissing Bug
Triatoma pallidipennis
A Chagas disease vector found in central and southwestern Mexico. It readily colonizes human dwellin...
Palo Verde Root Borer Cicada
Okanagana hesperia
A medium-sized dark cicada found in sagebrush steppe and desert grasslands. Males call from low shru...
Papuan Cicada
Baeturia conviva
A cicada endemic to New Guinea, part of the most species-rich cicada genus in the region. Males prod...
Parent Bug
Elasmucha grisea
A birch-feeding shieldbug remarkable for its extended maternal care behavior. Females stand guard ov...
Peanut-Head Bug
Fulgora laternaria
A large planthopper with a bizarre inflated head capsule resembling a peanut or an alligator. When t...
Pear Psylla
Cacopsylla pyri
A small winged psyllid that is the most important insect pest of European pear orchards. Nymphs prod...
Pennsylvania Ambush Bug
Phymata pennsylvanica
A small chunky yellow and brown bug with thickened raptorial forelegs that hides in flower heads to ...
Penthicodes Lanternfly
Penthicodes pulchella
A strikingly beautiful Southeast Asian lanternfly with iridescent blue-green forewings and contrasti...
Periodical Cicada
Magicicada septendecim
Emerges in massive synchronized broods every 17 years. Nymphs live underground feeding on tree root ...
Picromerus Predatory Bug
Picromerus bidens
A dark brown predatory stink bug with two prominent pronotal spines found across Europe. It is an im...
Pigeon Bug
Cimex columbarius
A cimicid ectoparasite of pigeons and doves found in nest sites and dovecotes across Europe. It can ...
Pine Bark Adelgid
Pineus strobi
An adelgid that feeds on the bark of eastern white pine, producing white waxy wool on trunks and bra...
Pine Spittlebug
Aphrophora cribrata
A large spittlebug that feeds on pine and other conifers, producing masses of froth on branches. Hea...
Pink Wax Scale Whitefly
Aleurocanthus woglumi
Known as the citrus blackfly, this whitefly has dark sooty-colored pupae that distinguish it from ot...
Planthopper
Flatida rosea
A delicate, pinkish-white planthopper that closely resembles a flower petal when resting on vegetati...
Polynesian Cicada
Raiateana oulietea
An island-endemic cicada found in French Polynesia with a slender dark body and clear wings. Its buz...
Potato Leafhopper
Empoasca fabae
A small bright green leafhopper that causes hopperburn on potato, bean, and alfalfa leaves. It migra...
Poultry Bug
Haematosiphon inodorus
A cimicid ectoparasite of poultry native to North America that is closely related to bed bugs. Heavy...
Predatory Stink Bug
Eocanthecona furcellata
A medium-sized predatory shield bug used as a biological control agent in Asia and Australia. It fee...
Provencal Cicada
Lyristes plebejus
A large European cicada iconic to the Mediterranean region, especially Provence. Its loud continuous...
Psyllid
Diaphorina citri
A small sap-sucking insect that vectors citrus greening disease, the most devastating citrus disease...
Putnam's Cicada
Platypedia putnami
A small, dark cicada found in arid pinyon-juniper woodlands of the western US. It produces quiet cli...
Razor Grinder Cicada
Henicopsaltria eydouxii
A large cicada known for its distinctive high-pitched grinding call that sounds like metal being sha...
Red Assassin Bug
Rhynocoris iracundus
A striking red and black assassin bug common in European meadows and grasslands. It is a generalist ...
Red Cotton Bug
Dysdercus koenigii
A bright red and black true bug that stains cotton lint by piercing developing cotton bolls. Adults ...
Red-Banded Leafhopper
Graphocephala coccinea
A brilliantly colored leafhopper with alternating red and blue-green stripes. It is one of the most ...
Red-banded Stink Bug
Piezodorus guildinii
A green to yellowish stink bug with a distinctive reddish-brown band across the pronotum. It is a ma...
Redeye Cicada
Psaltoda moerens
A striking Australian cicada with bright red eyes and a dark body. Large choruses create a deafening...
Rhododendron Lace Bug
Stephanitis rhododendri
A tiny lace bug with transparent, reticulate wings that infests rhododendron leaves. Native to North...
Rhododendron Leafhopper
Graphocephala fennahi
A brightly colored red and blue-green leafhopper that feeds on rhododendrons. It vectors a fungus th...
Ricaniid Planthopper
Ricania speculum
A broad-winged planthopper with dark, glossy wings held tent-like over its body. It is a pest of tea...
Rice Stink Bug
Oebalus pugnax
A slender, straw-colored stink bug that is the most damaging hemipteran pest of rice in the Americas...
Robust Cicada
Meimuna opalifera
A common East Asian cicada known as 'tsukutsuku-boshi' in Japan. Its rhythmic song marks the end of ...
Rose Aphid
Macrosiphum rosae
A large green or pink aphid with long black cornicles (siphunculi) that is the most common aphid pes...
Rose Leafhopper
Edwardsiana rosae
A tiny pale leafhopper that feeds on rose leaves, causing characteristic pale stippling. One of the ...
Rosy Apple Aphid
Dysaphis plantaginea
A purplish-gray aphid covered in a dusky waxy bloom that causes severe leaf curling and fruit deform...
Rough Stink Bug
Brochymena quadripustulata
A gray-brown bark-colored stink bug with a rough, granular body surface that provides excellent camo...
Russian Wheat Aphid
Diuraphis noxia
A pale elongated aphid that causes leaf rolling and white streaking on wheat and barley. It injects ...
Sage Leafhopper
Eupteryx melissae
A small, attractively marked leafhopper found on sage and other labiates in gardens. Feeding causes ...
San Jose Scale
Diaspidiotus perniciosus
A tiny armored scale insect that forms gray encrustations on the bark and fruit of apple, pear, and ...
Sandstone Squeaker Cicada
Pauropsalta annulata
A small Australian cicada that produces a high-pitched squeaking call. It is commonly found on sands...
Saratoga Spittlebug
Aphrophora saratogensis
A spittlebug that is a serious pest of young red pine plantations in North America. Its feeding caus...
Say's Stink Bug
Chlorochroa sayi
A bright green stink bug common in arid and semi-arid habitats of western North America. It can be a...
Scentless Plant Bug
Jadera haematoloma
A red-eyed black and red bug that forms enormous aggregations on golden rain trees and other soapber...
Scissor Grinder Cicada
Neotibicen pruinosus
A large North American annual cicada with a buzzing call resembling a grinding wheel. Its body is co...
Shield Bug
Palomena prasina
Also called stink bugs for the foul-smelling liquid they release when disturbed. Changes color from ...
Singing Water Boatman
Micronecta scholtzi
The loudest animal relative to body size on Earth. This 2 mm aquatic bug produces mating calls reach...
Sloe Bug
Dolycoris baccarum
A medium-sized, purplish-brown shield bug with distinctive black and white banded antennae and a hai...
Small Brown Planthopper
Laodelphax striatellus
A tiny brown-striped delphacid planthopper that vectors rice stripe virus and rice black-streaked dw...
Small Milkweed Bug
Lygaeus kalmii
A boldly patterned red-and-black seed bug that feeds on milkweed seeds and sequesters toxic cardiac ...
Smoke-Tree Sharpshooter
Homalodisca liturata
A large leafhopper native to the southwestern US and Mexico closely related to the glassy-winged sha...
South American Brown Stink Bug
Euschistus heros
A dull brown shield bug and the most economically damaging stink bug in Brazilian soybean agricultur...
South American Lanternfly
Enchophora sanguinea
A bright red and black fulgorid planthopper with a moderately elongated head process. It feeds on tr...