Alice Springs Desert Park

ASDP Hemiptera / HeteropteraCrusader Bug (Mictis profana) Ground Shield Bug

The order Hemiptera represent a group of insects known as True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies. There are said to be about 60,000 known species of bugs worldwide, with many thousands more yet to be discovered and identified. Australia is said to have about 5,650 known species, with many more yet to be identified.

Mictis profana (Crusader Bug), Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Crusader Bug (Mictis profana)
Ground Shield Bug (Choerocoris paganus) on Brilliant Hopbush (Dodonaea microzyga), Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Ground Shield Bug (Choerocoris paganus)

The term ‘bug’ is used to describe members of the group Hemiptera, of which there are many different forms including aphids, hoppers, scale insects, cicadas and, confusingly, a group known as the ‘true’ bugs.

Mictis profana (Crusader Bug), Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Mictis profana (Crusader Bug), Alice Springs Desert Park NT

Within the order Hemiptera is the suborder Heteroptera, that are a group of some 40,000 species of insects. The Heteroptera group are referred to as “true bugs”, although the common name is also used to describe the order Hemiptera.

Choerocoris paganus, Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Choerocoris paganus, Alice Springs Desert Park NT

See Insects > Hemiptera | Heteroptera

  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Insecta
  • Subclass: Pterygota
  • Order: Hemiptera
  • Suborder:
    • Auchenorrhyncha
    • Coleorrhyncha
    • Heteroptera
    • Sternorrhyncha
  • Genus:
    • Amastris
    • Gargaphia

Footnote & References

  1. True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies (Order Hemiptera), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/47744-Hemiptera
  2. Hemiptera, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/7630fe33-a00e-4743-80da-4fa6a36cd8b2#overview
  3. Bugs: Order Hemiptera, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/bugs-order-hemiptera/
  4. Hemiptera: bugs, aphids and cicadas, Insects and their Allies, CSIRO, https://www.ento.csiro.au/education/insects/hemiptera.html
  5. Heteroptera, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/b809bc05-d1c2-4664-8727-cc6493b7a3cd

ASDP Hemiptera / HeteropteraCrusader Bug (Mictis profana) Ground Shield Bug

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