Africa Wild Insect Book Hemiptera, Heteroptera Typical Bugs

[BluTuna]

Milkweed Bug Oncopeltus famelicus
Superfamily: Lygaeoidea. Family: Lygaeidae. Subfamily: Lygaeinae

© BluTuna

© BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg

Distribution
Widely distributed in South Africa, except the Northern Cape and northern part of the Western Cape. Range extends into East Africa.

[ExFmem]

Milkweed Bug Spilostethus furculus
Family: Lygaeidae. Subfamily: Lygaeinae


Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Distribution
This Milkweed Bug is widely distributed in the Afrotropical Region and in the southern Palaearctic.

Diet
It feeds on a large variety of plants.

[ExFmem]

Milkweed Bug Haemobophus concinnus (Dallas, 1852)
Family: Lygaeidae. Subfamily: Lygaeinae




Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park by ExF

Lifestyle: Herbivore, sap sucker
Habitat: Terrestrial
Distribution: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana
IUCN Conservation status: Not Evaluated.

[Toko]

Rhopalidae (Scentless Plant Bugs)

Rhopalidae, or scentless plant bugs, are a family of true bugs. They differ from the related coreids in lacking well-developed scent glands. They are usually light-colored and smaller than the coreids. Some are very similar to lygaeids, but can be distinguished by the numerous veins in the membrane of the hemelytra. They live principally on weeds, but a few are arboreal. All are plant feeders. Currently 18 genera and over 200 species of rhopalids are known.

Soapberry Bugs specifically encompass all species within the subfamily Serinethinae. Serinethinae contains three genera: Jadera, Leptocoris, Boisea.

Leptocoris is the largest genus of the soapberry bug subfamily. The 41 species of this genus are distributed throughout Africa, South Asia, and Oceania and are thought to have originated in Africa, where the greatest diversity of Leptocoris species are found. Members of this genus are large-bodied and have short, wide pronota.

Links: Soapberry Bugs of the World

[BluTuna]

Soapberry Bug Leptocoris mutilatus
Superfamily: Coreoidea. Family: Rhopalidae. Subfamily: Serinethinae

© BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg

© BluTuna
Nymph

Description
About 11 to 16 mm in length (brachtyperous about 11–12 mm). Scarlet red or reddish orange with black membrane; scutellum may be completely black, completely red, or red outlined in black. Corium, clavus, and pronotum may have a greenish tint but always lack black undertones. The pronotum is red and often and ochre color, but the sides and the posterior portion are always red. Pronotum is relatively long and slender; it also has a distinct longitudinal ridge that passes through the center and becomes finer posteriorly. Ventral side is red, including the coxae. Appendages are brownish black. The antennae are brown.

Distribution
Central, Eastern and Southern Africa.

Links: A revision of the African species of the genera Leptocoris HAHN, 1833, and Boisea KIRKALDY, 1910; and notes on other species of those genera. By U. Göllner-Scheiding; Soapberry Bugs of the World - Leptocoris mutilatus

[Toko]

Pyrrhocoridae (Red Bugs, Fire Bugs, Cotton Stainers)
Medium sized (body length 5-20 mm). Many are red-coloured and are known as red bugs and some species are called cotton stainers because their feeding activities leave an indelible yellow-brownish stain on cotton crops. Only 13 out of the 18 genera now recognised in Africa can be said to be brightly colored; the other five genera are dark in general coloration. Pyrrhocoridae have the sixth visible ventral abdominal segment entire in both sexes. The membrane of the forewing has one or two cells from which about 7-8 branching veins emerge that may have branches that fuse together (anastomose) while the main veins reach the margins of the wing. They have three tarsal segments. The scutellum is small and triangular. The antennae are made up of four segments with the second segment longer than the third. The beak-like mouthpart or rostrum has four segments and tip reaches at least the base of the middle pair of legs.
Members of this family can be quickly separated from the family Lygaeidae by the lack of ocelli (simple eyes).

The following characters are used to typify the family:
- Abdominal trichobothria present
- Scutellum small, shorter than the clavus, a distinct claval commisure present
- Antennophores visible from above
- Antennae four segmented
- Ocelli absent
- Membrane of the hemelytra usually with two basal cells, from which 7 - 8 branching longitudinal veins extend to the apical margin
- Medium to large, brightly colored, usually phytophagous bugs

[Toko]

Red Bug Cenaeus carnifex
Superfamily: Pyrrhocoroidea. Family: Pyrrhocoridae

© Tina
Western Cape

Description
Uniformly red or orange with black legs and antennae. Anterior and posterior discs of pronotum of different textures and colors separated by a row of punctures. The red eyes are prominent, not sessile.

Distribution
Eastern coastal regions of South Africa and around Cape Town.


© arks
Darling, Western Cape

[Toko]

Acanthosomatidae (Shield Bugs)
Acanthosomatidae is a cosmopolitan family of Hemiptera, commonly named “shield bugs”. They are sometimes treated as a subfamily of Pentatomidae. The Acanthosomatidae have 5-segmented antennae; tarsi are 2-segmented; scutellum not reaching end of abdomen; abdominal sternum with a long, anteriorly directed spine. The haed is laterally keeled.
They are mainly phytophagous (feeding on plant sap).

[BluTuna]

Powdery Stink Bug Pseudatelus sp.
Superfamily: Pentatomoidea. Family: Pentatomidae

© BluTuna
Mid instar larva (Johannesburg garden)

© leachy

[Toko]

Dinidoridae (Cucumber Bugs)
Dinidoridae is a a relatively small family of pentatomoids, found in tropical Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America. Dinidorids are large, ovoid, robust species. The head is laterally keeled. The antennae are 4 or 5-segmented. The scutellum is triangular, medium-sized, and does not cover the corium.