Scutelleridae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

true bugs Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They ...

. They are commonly known as jewel (stink) bugs or metallic shield bugs due to their often brilliant coloration. With the name based on the Asian genus ''

Scutellera ''Scutellera'' is the type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoolo ...

'', they are also known as shield-backed bugs due to the enlargement of the thoracic scutellum into a continuous shield over the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

and wings. This latter characteristic distinguishes them from most other families within

Heteroptera The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal al ...

, and may lead to misidentification as a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

rather than a bug. These insects use their piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant juices from a variety of different species, including some commercial crops. Closely related to stink bugs, they may also produce an offensive odour when disturbed. There are around 450

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

worldwide.

Description

Jewel bugs are small to medium-sized oval-shaped bugs with a body length averaging at . They can easily be distinguished from stink bugs (

Pentatomidae Pentatomidae is a family of insects belonging to the order Hemiptera, generally called shield bugs or stink bugs. Pentatomidae is the largest family in the superfamily Pentatomoidea, and contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.Robert G ...

) because the shield-like enlarged last section of their

thorax The thorax (: thoraces or thoraxes) or chest is a part of the anatomy of mammals and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main di ...

(known as the scutellum,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "little shield") completely covers the

and the wings. Despite their resemblance to beetles, jewel bugs are

hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

ns or true bugs. The scutellum is an extension of the thorax, unlike the

elytra An elytron (; ; : elytra, ) is a modified, hardened forewing of beetles (Coleoptera), though a few of the true bugs (Hemiptera) such as the family Schizopteridae are extremely similar; in true bugs, the forewings are called hemelytra (sometime ...

of beetles which are hardened forewings. As such, jewel bugs have four membranous wings underneath the scutellum in contrast to two in beetles. The scutellum in jewel bugs also does not have a division in the middle and thus does not 'split open' when they take flight like in beetles. The heads of jewel bugs are triangular and the antennae have three to five segments. Like all heteropterans, jewel bugs are characterized by a segmented beak-like mouthpart (known as the

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

). During feeding, jewel bugs inject proteolytic enzymes in their

saliva Saliva (commonly referred as spit or drool) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which ...

into plants, digesting plant matter into a liquid form which they then suck up. The tarsus has three segments (tarsomeres). File:Calliphara exellens (Burmeister, 1834).jpg, '' Calliphara excellens'' from Japan. File:Chrysocoris macrogiants A.jpg, Jewel bug in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

File:Chrysocoris macrogiants C.jpg, Jewel bug in

File:Jewel Bug-Chennai.jpg, Jewel bug spotted tucked away in the canopy at

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

File:Shield-backed bug (Graptocoris aulicus) nymph.jpg, Shield-backed bug (''Graptocoris aulicus'') nymph,

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

File:Chrysocoris, Hebbal, Bangalore, India - 20060806.jpg, alt=Chrysocoris sp. from India, perched on some leaves., '' Chrysocoris'' sp., an iridescent green jewel bug from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. File:Giant jewel bug (Eucorysses grandis).jpg, alt=Eucorysses grandis from Japan, crawling up on a wall., A brilliant orange, red, and black giant jewel stink bug '' Eucorysses grandis'', from

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The pattern and coloration of this species can often vary from pale cream to deep red. File:ミヤコキンカメムシ Lampromicra miyakona 西表島 2018-11-24.jpg, '' Lampromicra miyakona'' from Japan.

Colours

Though some species are quite drab, the most conspicuous jewel bugs are often brilliantly colored, exhibiting a wide range of iridescent metallic hues that change with the view angle. The colors are the result of a combination of factors. Some species like '' Chrysocoris stockerus'' and '' Scutellera nobilis'' display colors from multiple thin layers of pigmented

chitin Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...

. The colors often change or become duller when the specimens are dried, due to the topmost chitinous layer becoming opaque and obscuring the colors of the bottom layer. The colors can be restored by moistening the surface with water.

Iridescence Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear gradually to change colour as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Iridescence is caused by wave interference of light in microstru ...

(or goniochromism) in jewel bugs like '' Poecilocoris lewisi'' are the result of

structural coloration Structural coloration in animals, and a few plants, is the production of colour by microscopically structured surfaces fine enough to interfere with visible light instead of Biological pigment, pigments, although some structural coloration occu ...

. Instead of pigments, the colors are caused by the

interference Interference is the act of interfering, invading, or poaching. Interference may also refer to: Communications * Interference (communication), anything which alters, modifies, or disrupts a message * Adjacent-channel interference, caused by extra ...

diffraction Diffraction is the deviation of waves from straight-line propagation without any change in their energy due to an obstacle or through an aperture. The diffracting object or aperture effectively becomes a secondary source of the Wave propagation ...

, or

scattering In physics, scattering is a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including particles and radiat ...

of light by numerous tiny structures. In '' Poecilocoris lewisi'', multiple tiny conical protuberances around 900 nm in height and averaging at a diameter of 360 nm are scattered on the

epicuticle Arthropods are covered with a tough, resilient integument, cuticle or exoskeleton of chitin. Generally the exoskeleton will have thickened areas in which the chitin is reinforced or stiffened by materials such as minerals or hardened proteins. T ...

. These structures affect light passing through them, producing their oily-looking blue sheen (known as the

Tyndall effect The Tyndall effect is light scattering by particles in a colloid such as a very fine suspension (a sol). Also known as Tyndall scattering, it is similar to Rayleigh scattering, in that the intensity of the scattered light is inversely propor ...

Mie scattering In electromagnetism, the Mie solution to Maxwell's equations (also known as the Lorenz–Mie solution, the Lorenz–Mie–Debye solution or Mie scattering) describes the scattering of an electromagnetic plane wave by a homogeneous sphere. The sol ...

). In other species like the African shield bug ('' Calidea panaethiopica''), the dorsal

cuticle A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non- homologous, differing in their origin, structu ...

is dotted with tiny regularly spaced hemispherical cavities. The depressions act like Bragg mirrors. When light hits the pitted surface, it gives off multiple reflections resulting in the distinctive two tone yellow-blue iridescence. The colors and patterns on jewel bugs can vary significantly between

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

s and even within adults of a species. Jewel bugs are also known to

mimic In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

the colors, patterns, and shape of other organisms for defensive purposes. An example is the yellow-spotted black '' Steganocerus multipunctatus'' which exhibits

Müllerian mimicry Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and sharing common predators, have come to mimicry, mimic each other's honest signal, honest aposematism, warning signals, to their mutuali ...

with the

tortoise beetle The Cassidinae (tortoise and leaf-mining beetles) are a subfamily of the leaf beetles, or Chrysomelidae. The antennae arise close to each other and some members have the pronotal and Elytron, elytral edges extended to the side and covering the le ...

'' Chiridopsis suffriani''.

Ecology and life cycle

All jewel bugs feed on

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

(

phytophagous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet (nutrition), diet. These more broadly also encompass an ...

). The eggs are laid in compact clusters. They may be round or barrel-shaped with a lid or a cap at the top (known as the operculum). They also contain a ring of small protuberances near the cap called micropylar processes. They permit the passage of sperm into the egg for fertilization and enable gaseous exchange from within the egg and the outside world for the embryos. The eggs are white or cream colored when freshly laid but can change color as the embryo matures. When hatching, the prolarva (the advanced embryo) exit the egg by opening the lid through peristaltic movements and with the help of a T-shaped internal structure in the egg (known as the egg burster). Like all hemipterans, jewel bugs undergo

incomplete metamorphosis Hemimetabolism or hemimetaboly, also called partial metamorphosis and paurometabolism,McGavin, George C. ''Essential Entomology: An Order-by-Order Introduction''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. pp. 20. is the mode of development of certain ...

(hemimetaboly) and do not possess

larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

l and

pupa A pupa (; : pupae) is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their life cycle, the stages th ...

l stages. Instead the adults develop from several stages of

nymphs A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

through successive moltings. Nymphs resemble the adults except for size and the absence of wings. They can be of different coloration or patterns from adults. Some species are known to exhibit

parental care Parental care is a behavioural and evolutionary strategy adopted by some animals, involving a parental investment being made to the evolutionary fitness of offspring. Patterns of parental care are widespread and highly diverse across the animal k ...

of eggs and

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

s. Notable examples of which are '' Cantao parentum'', '' Pachycoris klugii'', '' Pachycoris stalii'', '' Pachycoris torridus'', and '' Tectocoris diophthalmus''. File:アカギカメムシ卵の保護大和村奄美大島.jpg, A female of ''Cantao ocellatus'' protecting a cluster of eggs. File:Koa bug eggs.jpg, alt=A cluster of empty barrel shaped eggs on a leaf., A cluster of the empty barrel-shaped eggs of the Koa bug (''Coleotichus blackburniae'') from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. The 'lids' can clearly be seen. File:Pachycoris torridus 003.jpg, alt=A jewel bug emerging from its old exoskeleton while two nymphs look on in the foreground., A jewel bug molting (ecdysis). The pale-colored adult is emerging from its old

exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the internal organs, in contrast to an internal endoskeleton (e.g. human skeleton, that ...

, in the foreground are two

. File:Scutelleridae cropped 2.jpg, A jewel bug from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

feeding on '' Jatropha''. File:ラデンキンカメムシｰアカギの葉に群れる。奄美大島.jpg, '' Scutellera amethystina'', congregating on'' Bischofia javanica.'' File:ナナホシキンカメムシ Calliphara excellens 交尾沖縄島 2017-5-06.jpg, '' Calliphara excellens ''copulating.

Reproduction

Chemical secretions from dorsal abdominal or sternal

exocrine gland Exocrine glands are glands that secrete substances onto an epithelial surface by way of a duct. Examples of exocrine glands include sweat, salivary, mammary, ceruminous, lacrimal, sebaceous, prostate and mucous. Exocrine glands are one of ...

s are used to attract mates by certain species of jewel bugs. In certain genera (like '' Tectocoris'', '' Psacasta'', '' Odontoscelis'', and '' Irochrotus''), males possess special

unicellular A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells. Organisms fall into two general categories: prokaryotic organisms and ...

gland A gland is a Cell (biology), cell or an Organ (biology), organ in an animal's body that produces and secretes different substances that the organism needs, either into the bloodstream or into a body cavity or outer surface. A gland may also funct ...

s in the abdomen known as the androconia. They release

sex pheromones Sex pheromones are pheromones released by an organism to attract an individual of the same species, encourage them to mate with them, or perform some other function closely related with sexual reproduction. Sex pheromones specifically focus on ind ...

when ruptured. Females possess a

spermatheca The spermatheca (pronounced : spermathecae ), also called ''receptaculum seminis'' (: ''receptacula seminis''), is an organ of the female reproductive tract in insects, e.g. ants, bees, some molluscs, Oligochaeta worms and certain other in ...

, an ectodermal gland which opens into the

oviduct The oviduct in vertebrates is the passageway from an ovary. In human females, this is more usually known as the fallopian tube. The eggs travel along the oviduct. These eggs will either be fertilized by spermatozoa to become a zygote, or will dege ...

. These serve as storage for

sperm Sperm (: sperm or sperms) is the male reproductive Cell (biology), cell, or gamete, in anisogamous forms of sexual reproduction (forms in which there is a larger, female reproductive cell and a smaller, male one). Animals produce motile sperm ...

deposited by males. It contains glands which can nourish the

spermatozoa A spermatozoon (; also spelled spermatozoön; : spermatozoa; ) is a motile sperm cell (biology), cell produced by male animals relying on internal fertilization. A spermatozoon is a moving form of the ploidy, haploid cell (biology), cell that is ...

until they can be released to fertilize eggs. Male jewel bugs of the genus '' Hotea'' possess an unusually large, spiky, and heavily sclerotized genitalia. They are used in a mating practice known as

traumatic insemination Traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination, is the mating practice in some species of invertebrates in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his aedeagus and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal ca ...

, a result of evolutionary

sexual conflict Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism occurs when the two sexes have conflicting optimal fitness (biology), fitness strategies concerning reproduction, particularly over the mode and frequency of mating, potentially leading to an evolutionary arms ...

. Male ''Hotea'' bugs tear through the female reproductive ducts to deposit sperm, inflicting substantial damage to the female in the process.

Defenses

Like stink bugs, a vast majority of jewel bugs, both adults and nymphs, are also capable of releasing pungent defensive chemicals from glands located on the sides of the thorax. Typical compounds exuded by jewel bugs include

alcohol Alcohol may refer to: Common uses * Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds * Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life ** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages ** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...

aldehyde In organic chemistry, an aldehyde () (lat. ''al''cohol ''dehyd''rogenatum, dehydrogenated alcohol) is an organic compound containing a functional group with the structure . The functional group itself (without the "R" side chain) can be referred ...

s, and

ester In chemistry, an ester is a compound derived from an acid (either organic or inorganic) in which the hydrogen atom (H) of at least one acidic hydroxyl group () of that acid is replaced by an organyl group (R). These compounds contain a distin ...

s. Nymphs and adults often exhibit clustering behavior, being found in large numbers close to each other. This behavior is thought to have an evolutionary advantage. The more individuals present in an area, the stronger the odor of the chemicals released when the bugs are threatened. If this fails, stink bugs will react to threat by flying away or dropping to the ground.

Classification and evolution

Scutellerids were first described by the English

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical apprenticesh ...

in 1815. It belongs to the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from ...

(true bugs), under the

suborder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...

and

infraorder Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between Family_(biology), family and Class_(biology), class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classific ...

Pentatomomorpha The Pentatomomorpha comprise an infraorder of insects in the true bug order Hemiptera. It unites such animals as the shield- or stink-bugs (Pentatomidae and alies), flat bugs (Aradidae), seed bugs (Lygaeidae and Rhyparochromidae), etc. They ar ...

. They are classified under the superfamily

Pentatomoidea The Pentatomoidea are a superfamily of insects in the suborder Heteroptera of the order Hemiptera. As hemipterans, they possess a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The roughly 7000 species under Pentatomoidea are divided into 21 familie ...

. They were formerly classified as a subfamily of

by George Willis Kirkaldy in 1909. The earliest attempt to restore them to family status was in 1917 by

Edward Payson Van Duzee Edward Payson Van Duzee (6 April 1861 – 2 June 1940) was an American entomologist noted for his work on Hemiptera. As of 1885, he was a librarian at Grosvenor Library of Buffalo New York for 28 years, and then relocated to California in 1912 w ...

. Most authorities today regard it as a valid family group. In

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies in 2008 by Grazia ''et al.'', Scutelleridae was shown to be consistently

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

, basal to Acanthosomatidae, and distal to Plataspididae and Parastrachiidae. Below is the morphological unweighted tree of the superfamily

after Grazia ''et al.'' (2008).

Subfamilies and genera

The family is composed of about 81

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

and around 450 species worldwide. While the

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

and subfamilial classifications remain unclear, they are divided into eight subfamilies ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'': Elvisurinae, Eurygastrinae, Hoteinae (sometimes classified under Pachycorinae), Odontoscelinae, Odontotarsinae, Pachycorinae, Scutellerinae, and Tectocorinae.Biolib
family of shield-backed bugs, Scutelleridae Leach, 1815 (retrieved 10 February 2024)

Elvisurinae

Auth.: Stål, 1872. Widespread distribution, with the type genus ''Elvisura'' found in southern Africa; only one species of Elvisurinae, '' Solenosthedium bilunatum'', is found in Europe. # '' Austrotichus'' - monotypic ''A. rugosus'' # '' Coleotichus'' # '' Elvisura'' # '' Solenosthedium'' # '' Solenotichus''

Eurygastrinae

Auth.: Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 ;Tribe Eurygastrini Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 # '' Eurygaster'' # '' Polyphyma'' ;Tribe Psacastini Mulsant & Rey, 1865 # '' Ceratocranum'' # '' Periphima'' # '' Periphymopsis'' # '' Promecocoris'' # '' Psacasta'' # '' Xerobia''

Hoteinae

Auth.: Carapezza, 2008 #'' Deroplax'' #'' Ellipsocoris'' #'' Hotea''

Odontoscelinae

Auth.: Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843; mostly European #'' Holonotellus'' #'' Irochrotus'' #'' Odontoscelis''

Odontotarsinae

Auth.: Mulsant & Rey, 1865 ;Tribe Odontotarsini Mulsant & Rey, 1865 # '' Ahmadocoris'' # '' Alphocoris'' # '' Melanodema'' # '' Odontotarsiellus'' # '' Odontotarsus'' # '' Urothyreus'' ;Tribe Phimoderini Fuente, 1974 # '' Euptychodera'' # '' Fokkeria'' # '' Morbora'' # '' Phimodera'' # '' Vanduzeeina''

Pachycorinae

Auth.: Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 # '' Acantholomidea'' # '' Agonosoma'' # '' Ascanius (bug)'' # '' Brailovskylus'' # '' Camirus'' # '' Chelycoris'' # '' Chelyschema'' # '' Coptochilus'' # '' Crathis (bug)'' # '' Diolcus'' # ''

Dystus ''Dystus'' is a genus of central AmericanGBIF
Dystus Stål, 1862 Hemiptera, bugs in the subfamily Pachycorinae, erect ...

'' # '' Ephynes'' # '' Galeacius'' # '' Homaemus'' # '' Lobothyreus'' # '' Misippus'' # '' Nesogenes'' # '' Orsilochides'' # '' Pachycoris'' # '' Polytes'' # '' Sphyrocoris'' # '' Stethaulax'' # '' Symphylus'' # '' Testrina'' # '' Tetyra'' # '' Tiridates (bug)''

Scutellerinae Scutellerinae is a subfamily of shield-backed bugs erected by William Elford Leach William Elford Leach (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, ...

Auth.: Leach, 1815. Selected genera: *'' Augocoris'' *'' Calliphara'' *'' Cantao'' *'' Chrysocoris'' *'' Eucorysses'' Amyot & Audinet-Serville, 1843 *'' Lampromicra'' *''

'' Lamarck, 1801 *'' Sphaerocoris'' ;Tectocorinae McDonald & Cassis, 1984 (monotypic) *'' Tectocoris'' Hahn, 1834

Economic significance

Though most jewel bugs do little harm to crop plants, a few members of Scutelleridae are considered major agricultural pests. Some of the most economically impactful species are members of the genus '' Eurygaster''. Together with some species of stink bugs, they are collectively known as sunn pests or wheat bugs. ''

Eurygaster integriceps ''Eurygaster integriceps'' is a species of shield bug in the family Scutelleridae, commonly known as the sunn pest or corn bug. It is native to much of northern Africa, the Balkans and western and central Asia. It is a major pest of cereal crop ...

'', in particular, is a very destructive pest of

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

crops in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

, and western and central

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Other scutellerids known under the name 'sunn pest' include members of the genus '' Odontotarsus'', among others. Methods of control for sunn pests have included

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, whether pest animals such as insects and mites, weeds, or pathogens affecting animals or plants by using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or ot ...

, using

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...

s of the family Scelionidae from the genera '' Trissolcus'' and '' Ooencyrtus''. The cotton harlequin bug ('' Tectocoris diophthalmus'') is also an important pest of

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

crops and ''

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

''.

Conservation

Biological methods of pest control have sometimes backfired. A

parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...

fly which preys on hemipterans, '' Trichopoda pennipes'' was introduced to

to control the

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

Nezara viridula ''Nezara viridula'', commonly known as the southern green stink bug (USA), southern green shield bug (UK) or green vegetable bug (Australia and New Zealand), is a plant-feeding stink bug. Believed to have originated in Ethiopia, it can now be f ...

'', the southern green stink bug. The fly now threatens

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

of bugs in Hawaii as well, particularly the Koa bug (''Coleotichus blackburniae'', a jewel bug species notable for not possessing stink glands) which has now become rare.

Gallery

File:Molting Jewel Bug 01.jpg, Molting (moulting) jewel bug (1) File:Molting Jewel Bug 02.jpg, Molting (moulting) jewel bug (2) File:Molting Jewel Bug 03.jpg, Molting (moulting) jewel bug (3) File:Molting Jewel Bug 04.jpg, Molting (moulting) jewel bug (4)

References

External links

A gallery of Scutellerid photos from Flickr
{{Authority control Agricultural pest insects Heteroptera families Shield bugs Taxa named by William Elford Leach