Classification & Distribution - incomplete development (egg,
nymph, adult) - closely related to Thysanoptera and Psocoptera
Distribution: Abundant worldwide. Found in most terrestrial and
freshwater habitats.North America Worldwide Number of
Families4073 Number of Species3587>50,000 Life History & Ecology
Members of the suborder Heteroptera are known as "true bugs".
They have very distinctive front wings, called hemelytra, in
which the basal half is leathery and the apical half is
membranous. At rest, these wings cross over one another to lie
flat along the insect's back. These insects also have elongate,
piercing-sucking mouthparts which arise from the ventral
(hypognathous) or anterior (prognathous) part of the head
capsule. The mandibles and maxillae are long and thread-like,
interlocking with one another to form a flexible feeding tube
(proboscis) that is no more than 0.1 mm in diameter yet contains
both a food channel and a salivary channel. These stylets are
enclosed within a protective sheath (the labi