Bugs

All pictures of garden wildlife on this page are thumbnails. Click on a thumbnail for enlargement in format of 800x600 pixels. The enlarged photos are from 100 to 150KB in size. We normally use the animal's English name (if it has one). However the scientific name of the species is always mentioned in the photograph's captions. For some species an additional page containing more pictures is available.

Thanks to Dr. Wolfgang Rabitsch, Keith Edkins, Wim Bloemberg, J. Baugnee, Gaby & Jos (Koninklijke Antwerpse Vereniging voor Entomologie), Berend Aukema and Gerrit Tyberghein for their help identifying various species.

Our original Bug Page got too big. Especially surfers using a modem had to wait a long time for the page to load. In April 2004 we decided to cut the original page into 5 new shorter pages. We also added an introductory page on the Hemiptera. If you are looking for a particular species or family of bugs, please use the picture navigation at the top of the page, or our search engine at the bottom of this page, or make your choice below:

1 Shieldbugs 2 Plantbugs 3 Other real bugs 4 Cicadas 5 Plant Lice

Introduction to Bugs (Hemiptera)

All Hemiptera have needle shaped jaws. This needle is used to stick into animals or plants and to suck up the juices. There are three groups: the real bugs, the cicadas and the plant lice, also called green flies. The larvae look like the adults very much, except for the wings. They do not start their life looking like a caterpillar or maggot. Like in dragon flies they are called nymphs. This means there is no pupal stage for these animals.

To the left: bugs may live on plants, in the water, but on the surface of water as well, like this famous Pond Skater. To the right: baby bugs do look like their parents, except in colour and lacking the wings of course.

Scientifically the Hemiptera consists of two rather different groups: the true bugs (or Heteroptera) and the cicadas and green flies (Homoptera). The true bugs have two pairs of wings. The upper wing however is quite remarkable, for it is made of two parts: a firm part first and a much softer membranous second half. The lower wing is membranous entirely and looks like the wings of all insects. The Homoptera have four wings as well. The upperwing in cicadas is either membranous or looks like a beetle's shields. The second pair is entirely membranous. Green flies have two pairs of membranous wings, reminding one of the wings of flies or wasps. However many are wingless as well. Because of the huge difference between true bugs and green flies some people believe these actually belong to two separate orders.

A shield bug, to your left, and a green fly, to your right, actually do not like one another at all.

All bugs are rather small animals, certainly in our part of the world. Some may reach almost 3 centimeters, most species are much smaller. Cicadas are even smaller than true bugs, only some species in the Mediterranean are bigger, especially the ones singing at night. Plant lice are all small to very small indeed. Many true bugs suck on plants, but there are also lots of predators and scavengers. An unusually large number suck on both plants and other animals. Some, like the infamous bedbug, even suck on people or other mammals. Many bugs are unwanted vistors to gardens or in agriculture. Plant lice are the worst, but some cicadas present a problem on potatoes and some shield bugs suck on apples and cabbage. Besides lots of shield bugs leave behind them a stinking trail of a liquid they produce, resulting in bad tasting berries and such. Some cicadas inject a poison into their host plant making it sick. Plant lice are unwanted because they often appear in such great numbers they may actually become exhausted and die. Furthermore some cicadas spread infectious deseases, such as milldew, by transporting the spores of the fungus from plant to plant. However other species are very benificial, such as some shield bugs feeding on beetles and plant lice. Arme custos below for instance is bred to deal with harmful weevils.

Some bugs like the Common Green Capsid to the left are harmful insects, while others, such as Arma custos to the right are very useful fighting off weevils.

Pictures are © Hans Arentsen (info@gardensafari.net) and © Hania Arentsen (photog@gardensafari.net).

Also visit Hania's Photographer's Pages, including pictures from Holland, Germany, China, the USA and Malaysia.