What is Pentatomoidea?
{{Taxobox | name = Shield and stink bugs | image = Acanthosoma labiduroides (male).jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = ''Acanthosoma labiduroides'' male | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Arthropod]]a | classis = [[Insect]]a | ordo = [[Hemiptera]] | subordo = [[Heteroptera]] | infraordo = [[Pentatomomorpha]] | superfamilia = '''Pentatomoidea'''}} [[File:Halyini nymph.jpg|thumb|250px|A freshly moulted [[Pentatomidae|Pentatomid]] [[Nymph (biology)|nymph]] belonging to tribe ''[[Halyni]]''.]] '''Pentatomoidea''' is a [[superfamily]] of [[bugs]] in the [[Heteroptera]] suborder.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sexton|first=Colleen|title=Stink Bugs|publisher=Bellwether Media|date=August 1, 2008|isbn=978-1-60014-192-8}}</ref> They are often called '''shield bugs''' or '''stink bugs'''. They are very common, with about 7000 [[species]]. They share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/hemiptera.html |title=Hemiptera: bugs, aphids and cicadas |publisher=[[CSIRO]] |accessdate=2007-05-08 |archive-date=2013-07-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709163308/http://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/hemiptera.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> They have a kind of tough shield on their back. It is part of the [[thorax]] which goes back over the [[abdomen]]. They also have [[glands]] between the first and second pair of legs. These glands produce a foul-smelling liquid. The shield and foul liquid work to [[wikt:deter|deter]] potential [[predators]]. Their young, called 'nymphs', also have stink glands. There are 15 families in this group. One of them, the [[Pentatomidae]] are especially known as stink bugs. It is the largest family in Pentatomoidea, with about 900 [[genera]] and over 4700 species. ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Hemiptera]]