All about true bugs

True bugs, of the order Hemiptera, have for too long been seen as pests. It is time to set the record straight.

 

Sycanus species, a true bug, feeding off a moth with the "needle".

A cicada named Comb scraper (Dundubia annandalei), from the Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh.

A cicada of the Terpnosia species from the Pakke Tiger Reserve.

A cicada from Gudalur showing the timbals. Cicadas use them to produce sound.

Forest bell cicada (Dundubia hastata), Balpakram National Park, Garo Hills, Arunachal Pradesh.

The cicada named Gaeana atkinsoni, from Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu.

Pond skaters. They stay on that thin layer of the water surface where air meets water.

The pond skater’s legs. It uses the middle pair of its three pairs of legs as paddles to “row”.

Backswimmer, one of the pond skater’s predators.

A planthopper of the Eurybrachys species with nymph. The name suggests that they hop, which they do, but generally they prefer to walk slowly on plants.

Leafhopper (Destinoides latifrons).

The Cosmoscarta dorsimaculata froghopper.

A treehopper.

A treehopper of the Oxyrachis species.

A leaf-footed bug of the Homeocerus species.

Ant (Camponotus compressus)-Treehopper (Leptocentrus-Oxyrachis sp.) mutualism. The treehoppers provide the ants with sweet honey in return for protection.

A froghopper of the Cosmoscarta species.

Edible bug: Antilochus species.

An edible bug: Nezara viridula var torquata.

An edible bug: Pentotomid bug, called Rishu in the north-eastern region.

A planthopper of the Nogodinidae family.

Moth bug, Ricanidae family. It is a type of planthopper that looks like a moth.

Giant water bug (Lethocerus indicus).

A leafhopper of the Calodia species.

A leafhopper: Bothrogonia sclerotica.

A leaf-footed bug, Cletus species.

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A froghopper. Froghoppers get their names because of their ability to jump quite high.