Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Superfamily Pentatomoidea

Hemiptera,  - Aelia americana Eggs of Saturniidae? Pentatomidae  - Chlorochroa osborni BEETLE - Cosmopepla lintneriana SMALL GREEN BUG - Chinavia hilaris Stinkbug Banasa euchlora nymphs? and their eggs?
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Pentatomomorpha
Superfamily Pentatomoidea
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Scutelleroidea
Numbers
in NA, >350 spp. in 103 genera in 6 families (Acanthosomatidae and Scutelleridae were until recently sometimes treated as subfamilies of Pentatomidae; Plataspididae is a recent addition)(1)(2); worldwide, 16 families with >7,200 spp. in ~1,300 genera(3)(4)
Identification
pentamerous (5-segmented) antennae and large scutellum (sometimes covering the dorsum almost completely) are diagnostic.
genitalia often provide the only dependable character for identifying species(5)
regional keys in (6)(7)(8)...
Habitat
A wide variety of terrestrial habitats
Season
Most are uni- or bivoltine, overwinter as adults, and lay eggs in the spring(6)
Food
Mostly herbivorous and often polyphagous, but one group (subfam. Asopinae) is entirely predaceous(6)
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Occurrence of the Old World bug Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae) in Georgia...
Eger J.E., Ames L.M., Suiter D.R., Jenkins T.M., Rider D.A., Halbert S.E. 2010. Insecta Mundi 0121: 1-11.
3.Biodiversity of the Heteroptera
Henry T.J. 2009. In: Foottit R.G., Adler P.H., eds. Insect biodiversity: Science and society. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell: 223−263.
4.Rider D. (2006-) Pentatomoidea home page
5.An updated synopsis of the Pentatomoidea (Heteroptera) of Michigan
Swanson D.R. 2012. Great Lakes Entomologist 45: 263-311.
6.The Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera) of Northeastern North America
J.E. McPherson. 1982. Southern Illinois University Press.
7.The Heteroptera (Hemiptera) of North Dakota I: Pentatomomorpha: Pentatomoidea
Rider D.A. 2012. Great Lakes Entomologist 45: 312-380.
8.The Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera) of Oklahoma.
Arnold, D.C. and W.A. Drew. 1988. Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin, T-166. 42 pp.