Pentatomoidea

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title: "Pentatomoidea" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["shield-bugs", "agricultural-pest-insects", "hemiptera-superfamilies"] description: "Superfamily of true bugs" topic_path: "general/shield-bugs" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatomoidea" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Superfamily of true bugs ::

| fossil_range = | image = Acanthosoma labiduroides (male).jpg | image_caption = Male Acanthosoma labiduroides | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Pentatomoidea | authority = Leach 1815 | subdivision_ranks = Families | subdivision = See text

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 families (16 extant and 5 extinct). Among these are the stink bugs and shield bugs, jewel bugs, giant shield bugs, and burrower bugs.

Description

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Heteroptera_morphology-d.svg" caption="corium]]; 29: [[embolium]]; 30: [[hemelytral membrane]]."] ::

The Pentatomoidea are characterised by a well-developed scutellum (the hardened extension of the thorax over the abdomen). It can be triangular to semielliptical in shape.

Shield bugs have glands that produce a foul-smelling liquid, which is used defensively to deter potential predators. Nymphs have glands on the dorsal surface of the abdomen (dorsal abdominal scent glands). These are often present in adults as well, but adults also develop a pair of glands on the metathorax (third segment of the thorax), these being the metathoracic scent glands.

The nymphs and adults have distinctive piercing mouthparts, with mandibles and maxillae modified to form a piercing stylet sheathed within a modified labium. The stylet is used to suck sap from plants, or in some cases to suck blood from other animals, such as in the predatory subfamily Asopinae.

Pentatomoidea are mostly phytophagous, although some (the Asopinae or predatory stink bugs) are zoophagous. They can become significant pests (e.g. the brown marmorated stink bug), causing economic damage to certain crops.

Families

These families are classified under Pentatomoidea:

Extant

• Acanthosomatidae Signoret, 1863 – known as shield bugs, contains 46 genera and 184 species found worldwide
• Canopidae McAtee & Malloch, 1928 – found strictly in the Neotropical realm
• Cydnidae Billberg, 1820 – known as burrowing bugs, it contains 120 genera and about 765 species worldwide.
• Dinidoridae Stål, 1867 – found in tropical Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America, composed of 16 genera and about 65 species
• Lestoniidae China, 1955 – small, round bugs that bear a resemblance to tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae), composed only of one genus and two species, endemic to Australia
• Megarididae McAtee & Malloch, 1928 – contains only one extant genus (Megaris) and 16 species, small, globular bugs occurring in Central America
• Parastrachiidae Oshanin, 1922 – bright red and black bugs exhibiting maternal care of eggs, it contains only two genera: Dismegistus (Africa) and Parastrachia (Eastern Asia).
• Pentatomidae Leach, 1815 – known as stink bugs, it is the largest family in Pentatomoidea. It contains around 900 genera and over 4700 species.
• Phloeidae – large mottled brown and flattened bugs found strictly in the Neotropical realm. It is composed on only 2 genera and 3 species. They are known to exhibit strong maternal care.
• Plataspidae – found in Asia, particularly eastern Asia, although a few species of Coptosoma occur in the Palearctic. They are round plant-feeding bugs. It has about 59 genera and 560 species.
• Saileriolidae – only recently removed from inclusion within Urostylididae.
• Scutelleridae – known as jewel bugs or shield-backed bugs. Composed of 81 genera and about 450 species.
• Tessaratomidae – known as giant shield bugs because they are usually relatively large. Has about 55 genera and 240 species worldwide (mainly in the Old World tropics).
• Thaumastellidae – small bugs usually found under rocks in tropical Africa and the Middle East. It contains only one genus and three species. There is some debate to their inclusion within Pentatomoidea.
• Thyreocoridae Amyot & Serville, 1843 – includes the former family, subfamily Corimelaeninae Uhler, 1872 – known as ebony bugs, they are small, oval, shiny black bugs.
• Urostylididae – contains about 11 genera and 170 species. They are found in Southern and Eastern Asia.

Extinct

• †Kobdocoridae (=Venicoridae) Popov 1986 Early Cretaceous, Asia
• †Mesopentacoridae Popov 1968 Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, Asia
• †Primipentatomidae Yao et al. 2013 Early Cretaceous, China
• †Probascanionidae Handlirsch 1921 Early Jurassic, Germany
• †Protocoridae Handlirsch 1906 Early-Middle Jurassic, Eurasia

Phylogeny

The morphological unweighted tree of Pentatomoidea after Grazia et al. (2008).

|label1=← |1={{Clade |label1= |1=Urostylididae |label2= |2={{Clade |label1= |1=Saileriolidae |label2= |2={{Clade |label1= |1=Acanthosomatidae |label2= |2={{Clade |label1= |1={{Clade |label1= |1=Tessaratomidae|state1=dashed |label2= |2=Dinidoridae|state2=dashed |label3=Cydnidaesensu lato |3={{Clade |label1= |1=Cydnidae |label2= |2=Thaumastellidae |label3= |3=Parastrachiidae |label4= |4={{Clade |label1= |1=Thyreocoridae |label2= |2=Lestoniidae |label3= |3=Phloeidae |label4= |4={{Clade |label1= |1=Scutelleridae |label2= |2=Plataspidae |label5= |5=Pentatomidae |label6= |6=Canopidae |label7= |7=Megarididae

Gallery

| title = Example species of the families under Pentatomoidea | width = 160 | height = 160 | align = center |File:Elasmucha grisea 20050608 916 part.jpg|alt1=The parent bug on a leaf protectively placing its body over a cluster of eggs|Acanthosomatidae: The parent bug (Elasmucha grisea) guarding eggs |File:Tritomegas.sexmaculatus.6887.jpg|alt2=Tritomegas sexmaculatus on a leaf|Cydnidae: Tritomegas sexmaculatus |File:Megymenum affine from CSIRO.jpg|alt3=An illustration of Megymenum affine|Dinidoridae: Megymenum affine |File:Nezara viridula MHNT verte.jpg|alt4=A southern green stink bug on a leaf|Pentatomidae: The southern green stink bug (Nezara viridula) |File:Megacopta cribraria.jpg|alt5=Megacopter cribraria on a leaf|Plataspidae: Megacopta cribraria |File:Chrysocoris, Hebbal, Bangalore, India - 20060806.jpg|alt6=The lychee shield bug perched on a leaf|Scutelleridae: The lychee shield bug, Chrysocoris stolli, a jewel bug |File:Tessaratoma papillosa nymph.jpg|alt7=The flattened nymph of Tessaratoma papillosa clambering on some leaves. Its thorax is distinctively square-shaped|Tessaratomidae: Tessaratoma papillosa nymph |File:Coptosoma xanthogramma.jpg|Plataspidae: Coptosoma xanthogramma, black stink bug

References

References

1. "Hemiptera: bugs, aphids and cicadas". [[CSIRO]].
2. (2002). "Zoological catalogue of Australia: Hemiptera: Heteroptera (Pentatomomorpha)". Csiro Publishing.
3. Capinera, John L.. (2008). "Encyclopedia of Entomology". Springer Science & Business Media.
4. T. N. Ananthakrishnan. (2004). "General and applied entomology". Tata McGraw-Hill Education.
5. (2010). "Thoracic scent efferent system of Pentatomoidea (Hemiptera: Heteroptera): a review of terminology". Zootaxa.
6. (2016). "Comparative morphology of the external scent efferent system of dorsal abdominal glands in nymphs of Pentatomidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)". Zoologischer Anzeiger - A Journal of Comparative Zoology.
7. (November 2021). "Ultrastructural Variations of Antennae and Labia Are Associated with Feeding Habit Shifts in Stink Bugs (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae)". Biology.
8. "Infraorder PENTATOMOMORPHA".
9. Clercq, Patrick De. (2005). "Stink Bugs, Predatory (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae, Asopinae)". Springer Netherlands.
10. David A. Rider. (October 20, 2009). "Classification". Department of Entomology, North Dakota State University.
11. Faúndez E. I.. (2009). "Contribution to the knowledge of the genus Acrophyma Bergroth, 1917 (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Acanthosomatidae)". Zootaxa.
12. P220 Randall T. Schuh, James Alexander Slater, ''True bugs of the world (Hemiptera:Heteroptera): classification and natural history'', Cornell University Press, 1995, {{ISBN. 0-8014-2066-0
13. P136 Christopher G. Morris ''Academic Press dictionary of science and technology'', Gulf Professional Publishing, 1992, {{ISBN. 0-12-200400-0
14. "Map of Megarididae".
15. (2013). "Geographic distribution and niche divergence of two stinkbugs, ''Parastrachia japonensis'' and ''Parastrachia nagaensis''". Journal of Insect Science.
16. Jerzy A. Lis. (2010). "Pretarsal structures in the family Parastrachiidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomoidea)". Zootaxa.
17. Cedric Gillott. (1995). "Entomology". Springer.
18. P353 ''Zoological Catalogue of Australia''
19. (2018-01-17). "Invasive Stink Bugs and Related Species (Pentatomoidea)". CRC Press.
20. Mike Boone. (September 11, 2004). "Family Thyreocoridae – Ebony Bugs". BugGuide, Iowa State University.
21. (2009-04-20). "Insect Biodiversity". Wiley-Blackwell.
22. (July 2023). "New fossil Kobdocoridae (Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha) from the Lower Cretaceous of Transbaikalia, Eastern Russia". Cretaceous Research.
23. (2013). "Primipentatomidae fam. Nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Pentatomomorpha), an extinct insect family from the Cretaceous of north-eastern China". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology.
24. Dimitri Forero. (March 13, 2009). "Pentatomoidea". [[Tree of Life Web Project]].
25. (2008). "Phylogenetic relationships of family groups in Pentatomoidea based on morphology and DNA sequences (Insecta: Heteroptera)". Wiley-Blackwell.

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