Your browser does not support JavaScript!
Purdue Extension 4-H/FFA Career Development Event (CDE) | FFA | Purdue | entomology | CDE | insect | insect orders | flashcards | contest
Hemiptera - true bugs
spacer
Largid bug
Largid bug
Largidae
3/8 in.

Water boatman
Water boatman
Corixidae
3/16 in.

True bugs usually have four wings; the front pair is thick and leathery at the base and thin and membranous at the tip. These wings are held flat over the back so that the tips overlap each other. A few species are wingless. Some are beneficial and some are pests. All true bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts, which form a noticeable beak. Metamorphosis is incomplete. Many true bugs possess stink glands and give off an unpleasant odor when disturbed or handled.

Most true bugs live on land, but some, such as the giant water bug and water striders, live in or on water. Usually, those that live on land feed on plant juices or are predators of other insects, but a few, such as the bed bug, are parasites of humans and other animals.
Stilt bug
Stilt bug
Berytidae
5/16 in.
Ambush bug
Ambush bug
Phymatidae
3/8 in.
Leaf-footed bug
Leaf-footed bug
Coreidae
3/4 in.
Bed bug
Bed bug
Cimicidae
3/16 in.
Squash bug
Squash bug
Coreidae
7/16 in.
Negro bug
Negro bug
Thyreocoridae
1/8 in.
Assassin bug
Assassin bug
Reduviidae
3/4 in.
Chinch bug
Chinch bug
Lygaeidae
1/8 in.
Garden fleahopper
Garden fleahopper
Miridae
1/8 in.
Water strider
Water strider
Gerridae
5/8 in.
Plant bug
Plant bug
Miridae
1/16 in.
Stink bug
Stink bug
Pentatomidae
5/8 in.
Seed bug
Seed bug
Lygaeidae
3/8 in.
Milkweed bug
Milkweed bug
Lygaeidae
7/16 in.
Lace bug
Lace bug
Tingidae
1/8 in.
Harlequin cabbage bug
Harlequin cabbage bug
Pentatomidae
3/8 in.
Backswimmer
Backswimmer
Notonecgtidae
1/2 in.
Giant water bug
Giant water bug
Blostomatidae
2 in.