Mandibles and first maxillae modified as piercers; second maxillae fused to form a jointed, grooved rostrum. Wings usually present. Four Malpighian tubes. Cerci absent. Ovipositor developed.
Includes two sub-orders:—
1. Heteroptera: Rostrum not in contact with haunches of fore-legs. Fore-wings partly coriaceous. Young resembling adults.
Includes the bugs, terrestrial and aquatic.
2. Homoptera: Rostrum in contact with haunches of fore-legs. Fore-wings uniform in texture. Young often larvae. Penultimate instar passive in some cases.
Includes the cicads, aphides and scale-insects (see [Hemiptera]).
Order: Anoplura.
Piercing jaws modified and reduced, a tubular, protrusible sucking-trunk being developed; mouth with hooks. Wingless, parasitic forms. Cerci absent. Four Malpighian tubes. Young resembling adults.
Includes the family of the Lice (Pediculidae), often reckoned as Hemiptera (q.v.). See also [Louse].
Sub-class: Endopterygota.