Information about Heteroptera

Heteroptera
Gerris najas, a pondskater
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Prosorrhyncha (unranked) Heteroptera
Infraorders
Enicocephalomorpha Dipsocoromorpha Gerromorpha Nepomorpha Leptopodomorpha Cimicomorpha Pentatomomorpha

Heteroptera is a group of about 40,000 species of insects (sometimes called true bugs, although that more commonly refers to Hemiptera as a whole) in the order Hemiptera. The word "Heteroptera" is Greek for different wings: most species have forewings with both membranous and hardened portions (called hemelytra); members of the primitive infraorder Enicocephalomorpha have wings that are completely membranous.

The name Heteroptera is used in two very different ways in modern classifications; it commonly appears as a suborder within Hemiptera, but also as a rankless (non-Linnaean) but monophyletic grouping of infraorders within the suborder Prosorrhyncha of the order Hemiptera.

The infraorders Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha contain most of the aquatic and semi-aquatic members of the suborder, while nearly all of the remaining groups that are common and familiar are in the infraorders Cimicomorpha and Pentatomomorpha.

Classification

The use of the name "Heteroptera" has a long history at the rank of order, dating back to Latreille, 1810, and it is only recently that it has been relegated to a subsidiary rank within a larger definition of Hemiptera, so many reference works still include it as an order. Whether to continue treating it as a suborder is still a subject of some controversy, as is whether the name itself should still be used. The two primary competing classifications basically boil down to preference for two suborders versus one, when the "living fossil" family Peloridiidae is taken into consideration:

• In the one-suborder classification, the name of the suborder is Prosorrhyncha (following Sorensen et al. 1995), and "Heteroptera" is a rankless subgroup within it. The only difference between Heteroptera and Prosorrhyncha is that the latter includes the family Peloridiidae, which is a tiny relictual group that is in its own superfamily and infraorder. In other words, the two are identical except that Prosorrhyncha contains one additional infraorder, called Peloridiomorpha (comprising only 13 small genera). The ongoing conflict between traditional, Linnaean classifications and non-traditional classifications is exemplified by the problem inherent in continued usage of the name Heteroptera when it no longer can be matched to any standard Linnaean rank (as it falls below suborder but above infraorder). If this classification wins out, then the "Heteroptera" grouping may be discarded in the near future.
• In the two-suborder classification, the Peloridiidae is retained as its own suborder, called Coleorrhyncha, and "Heteroptera" is treated as a suborder as well. Functionally, the only difference between this classification and the preceding is that the former uses the name "Prosorrhyncha" to refer to the Heteroptera plus the Coleorrhyncha, which many believe is preferable because they feel that the latter two groups are too closely related to be treated as separate suborders, and should instead be one. Note that the ABRS link below offers the unique approach of placing Coleorrhyncha within the Heteroptera; it is offered here to show that there are other options possible.

Aside from the question of the actual "closeness" of Heteroptera and Coleorrhyncha is the potential disruption to traditional construction of names; there seems to be reluctance among hemipterists to abandon the use of "Heteroptera" regardless of how appropriate it may be. This can be seen by the name itself, as it is a violation of convention to use the ending "-ptera" for any rank above genus other than an order - though since it is a convention rather than a Rule of nomenclature, taxonomists are technically free to violate it (which is why, for example, not all insect orders end in "-ptera", e.g., Odonata). However, in most cases when such conventions are violated, it does not create an internal conflict as in the present case (that is, the order Hemiptera has a suborder named Heteroptera, which is an internal conflict). At least some hemipterists argue that the one-suborder classification should be preferred because if it is adopted, then the name Heteroptera can be dropped entirely, eliminating this internal conflict.

Selected families of Heteroptera

• stink bugs or shield bugs (Pentatomidae and related families)
• Leaf footed bugs and squash bugs (Coreidae)
• seed bugs (Lygaeidae)
• assassin bugs (Reduviidae)
• bedbugs and flower bugs (Cimicidae)
• leaf bugs or mirid bugs (Miridae; c.6,000 species)

Water bugs

Water bugs are a common name for a number of aquatic insects, presently classified in the infraorders Gerromorpha and Nepomorpha of the order Hemiptera. The latter infraorder contains those taxa that were once known as the "Gymnocerata". Note that, unfortunately, the common name "water bug" is very often applied to the Oriental cockroach.

Selected families of water bugs

• back swimmers (Notonectidae)
• giant water bugs (Belostomatidae)
• water scorpions (Nepidae)
• water boatmen (Corixidae)
• pond skaters (Gerridae)
• Smaller water strider (Veliidae)

References

Sorensen J.T., Campbell B.C., Gill R.J., Steffen-Campbell J.D., 1995. Non-monophyly of Auchenorrhyncha ("Homoptera"), based upon 18S rDNA phylogeny: eco-evolutionary and cladistic implications with pre-Heteropteroidea Hemiptera (s.l.) and a proposal for new monophyletic suborders. Pan-Pacific Entomologist, 71 (1): 31-60

External links

• The Tree of Life Project, which uses a rankless classification http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Heteroptera&contgroup=Hemiptera
• The Australian Biological Resources Study http://www.deh.gov.au/cgi-bin/abrs/fauna/details.pl?pstrVol=HETEROPTERA;pstrTaxa=2431;pstrChecklistMode=2
• List of species in Heteroptera (1998)