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
South American Leaf-Footed Bug
Leptoglossus zonatus
A brown coreid bug with expanded leaf-like hind tibiae and a pale zigzag band across the forewings. ...
South American Spittlebug
Deois flavopicta
A dark brown and yellow spittlebug that is a major pest of tropical pasture grasses in Brazil. Nymph...
Soybean Aphid
Aphis glycines
A small pale yellow aphid that invaded North America in 2000 and became the most important soybean p...
Spined Soldier Bug
Podisus maculiventris
A beneficial predatory stink bug with prominent shoulder spines and a mottled brown body. It feeds o...
Spittlebug
Philaenus spumarius
A small, stout brown bug whose nymphs produce masses of frothy white "spittle" on plant stems. The f...
Spotted Black Cicada
Gaeana maculata
A stunning cicada with jet-black wings adorned with bright yellow or white spots. It is one of the m...
Spotted Lanternfly
Lycorma delicatula
A colorful invasive planthopper from China threatening vineyards, orchards, and hardwood forests in ...
Spruce Gall Adelgid
Adelges abietis
A tiny woolly aphid-like insect that induces distinctive pineapple-shaped galls on Norway spruce twi...
Squash Bug
Anasa tristis
A flat, dark grayish-brown bug that is a major pest of squash and pumpkin plants. When crushed, it e...
Stink Bug
Chinavia hilaris
A bright green shield bug common across North America, formerly known as Acrosternum hilare. It has ...
Streamlined Backswimmer
Notonecta irrorata
A pale backswimmer with mottled wings found in still and slow-moving waters across North America. Li...
Sugarcane Froghopper
Mahanarva fimbriolata
A major pest of sugarcane in Brazil, where it causes significant crop losses. Nymphs produce undergr...
Sugarcane Woolly Aphid
Ceratovacuna lanigera
A small aphid covered in white woolly wax secretions that forms dense colonies on the undersides of ...
Sumac Gall Aphid
Melaphis rhois
A gall-forming aphid that produces large hollow galls on sumac trees in which colonies live and repr...
Sunflower Treehopper
Heliria cristata
A small brown treehopper with a tall dorsal crest on its pronotum that gives it a distinctive high-b...
Superb Green Cicada
Neotibicen superbus
A large and strikingly green cicada of the American Southwest with a powerful buzzing song. It is on...
Surinam Lanternfly
Fulgora surinamensis
A large Neotropical lanternfly with a broad head process and cryptically patterned forewings that re...
Swamp Cicada
Neotibicen tibicen
A large dark cicada with green markings and a loud droning call heard in late summer. It is often ca...
Sycamore Seed Bug
Belonochilus numenius
A seed bug native to North America that feeds exclusively on sycamore seeds. It has recently invaded...
Table Mountain Ghost Frog Assassin Bug
Reduvius tabulensis
A rare assassin bug found only on Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It preys on small inver...
Tarnished Plant Bug
Lygus lineolaris
A small, mottled brown and green plant bug that is one of the most damaging agricultural pests in No...
Tessaratomid Giant Shield Bug
Tessaratoma papillosa
A very large, robust shield bug that is a serious pest of lychee and longan trees in Asia. Adults ar...
Thistle Lace Bug
Tingis cardui
A small, beautifully structured lace bug found on creeping thistle. Wings have an intricate latticed...
Thorn Bug
Umbonia crassicornis
Extraordinary treehopper with a thorn-shaped pronotum that makes it look exactly like a plant thorn ...
Thorn-Mimic Treehopper
Enchenopa binotata
A small treehopper with a hump-shaped pronotum that mimics a plant thorn or bud. It is a complex of ...
Thread-legged Bug
Emesaya brevipennis
An extremely slender assassin bug with stick-like legs that hunts in spider webs. It plucks web stra...
Three-Cornered Alfalfa Treehopper
Spissistilus festinus
A small green wedge-shaped treehopper that is a pest of soybeans and alfalfa. It girdles plant stems...
Three-Horned Treehopper
Ceresa taurina
A green treehopper with three pointed pronotal horns giving it a distinctive crown-like silhouette. ...
Toad Bug
Gelastocoris oculatus
A warty bug that closely resembles a tiny toad and hops along stream banks....
Tomato Potato Psyllid
Bactericera cockerelli
A small striped psyllid that transmits the zebra chip disease bacterium to potato crops. It also cau...
Torpedo Bug
Siphanta hebes
A bright green flatid planthopper with an elongated torpedo-shaped body profile when wings are folde...
Treble-bar Planthopper
Issus coleoptratus
A stout brown planthopper found on ivy and other climbing plants in Europe. Its nymphs possess inter...
Treehopper
Cladonota benitezi
A bizarre treehopper with an elaborate pronotal helmet covered in ball-like projections....
Triatoma brasiliensis
Triatoma brasiliensis
The most important Chagas disease vector in the semi-arid Caatinga region of northeastern Brazil. It...
Triatoma gerstaeckeri
Triatoma gerstaeckeri
The most common kissing bug in Texas, frequently found infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. It inhabits ...
Triatoma lecticularia
Triatoma lecticularia
A kissing bug found across the southeastern United States that occasionally invades homes. Its name ...
Triatoma rubida
Triatoma rubida
A reddish-brown kissing bug found in the southwestern United States and Mexico. It frequently enters...
Tropical Bed Bug
Cimex hemipterus
A tropical relative of the common bed bug that also feeds on human blood. It is the dominant bed bug...
Two-lined Spittlebug
Prosapia bicincta
A black spittlebug with two vivid red-orange transverse bands across its wings, common in turf grass...
Two-spotted Stink Bug
Perillus bioculatus
A colorful predatory stink bug with bold red or orange and black markings. It is particularly valued...
Ugandan Frog Leafhopper
Batracomorphus ruthae
One of seven new frog-like leafhoppers discovered in Uganda's Kibale National Park in 2025. Named in...
Vine Mealybug
Planococcus ficus
A pink-bodied mealybug covered in white wax that has become a major pest of vineyards worldwide. It ...
Walker's Cicada
Neotibicen pronotalis
A large cicada of the southern United States with a distinctive loud buzzing call. It prefers hot, o...
Water Boatman
Corixa punctata
A small, oval aquatic bug with oar-like hind legs fringed with swimming hairs. Unlike most aquatic b...
Water Measurer
Hydrometra australis
A very slender, elongate semi-aquatic bug that walks slowly on water surfaces in the Americas. Its h...
Water Scorpion
Nepa cinerea
A flat aquatic bug that lurks in shallow water resembling a dead leaf. It breathes through a long ta...
Water Strider
Gerris lacustris
Walks on water using hydrophobic leg hairs that trap air. Each leg has thousands of microscopic groo...
Water Treader
Mesovelia mulsanti
A tiny, bright green semi-aquatic bug that walks on the surface of still waters among floating veget...
Wax Scale
Ceroplastes destructor
A scale insect that covers itself with a thick waxy dome for protection....
Wax-Tailed Planthopper
Pterodictya reticularis
A Neotropical planthopper that produces long waxy tail filaments from its abdomen. These white wax s...
West African Lantern Bug
Zanna tenebrosa
A large planthopper with an elongated head process and colorful wings. The forewings are cryptically...
Western Boxelder Bug
Boisea rubrolineata
A red and black bug very similar to the eastern boxelder bug but found in western North America. It ...
Western Corsair
Rasahus thoracicus
A large, dark brown assassin bug found in western North America that occasionally enters homes and c...
Western Damsel Bug
Nabis alternatus
A tan to light brown predatory bug common in agricultural fields across western North America. It ha...
Western Plant Bug
Lygus hesperus
A small, oval plant bug that is one of the most important cotton pests in the western United States....
Wheel Bug
Arilus cristatus
The largest assassin bug in North America, named for the distinctive cogwheel-shaped crest on its th...
White-Backed Planthopper
Sogatella furcifera
A small delphacid planthopper with a distinctive white dorsal stripe on an otherwise brown body. It ...
White-Tipped Planthopper
Siphanta acuta
A bright green, wedge-shaped planthopper with white-tipped wings that mimics a small leaf. It is a c...
Whitefly
Bemisia tabaci
A tiny sap-sucking insect that transmits over 100 plant viruses worldwide. It is one of the most des...
Widefooted Treehopper
Campylenchia latipes
A North American treehopper with a distinctly angular pronotum and flattened tibiae. It is commonly ...
Willow Leafhopper
Idiocerus lituratus
A medium-sized leafhopper found on willow trees. Males produce vibrational signals transmitted throu...
Woolly Apple Aphid
Eriosoma lanigerum
An aphid covered in waxy white filaments that forms colonies on apple tree bark and roots. Heavy inf...
Woolly Hackberry Aphid
Shivaphis celti
A waxy-white social aphid that feeds on hackberry trees and is notable for its cooperative colony de...
Woundwort Shieldbug
Eysarcoris venustissimus
A small, compact bronze-green shield bug with a metallic sheen that feeds on woundwort and white dea...
Yucca Plant Bug
Halticotoma valida
A dark metallic blue plant bug that feeds on yucca plants in the arid Southwest. Heavy infestations ...
Zanna Lanternfly
Zanna nobilis
An African lanternfly with a distinctive upturned snout-like head process and brown cryptic forewing...