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The Hemiptera is the largest and by far the most sucessful of the Hemimetabolic insects (having young that look like wingless adults and a sort of metamorphosis that does not involve a pupa). There are at least 80 000 named species and probably many more. about 11 000 named species occur in North America, 5 600 from Australia and 1 600 from the UK. Traditionally they are divided into two groups the Heteroptera and the Homoptera (Sternorrhyncha, and Auchenorrhyncha) based basically on wing stucture but now they are the order is divided into three suborders, Sternorrhyncha, Auchenorrhyncha and Heteroptera with the Auchenorrhyncha now belived to be more closely related to the Heteroptera than the Sternorrhyncha.
The hemiptera range from 1 mm to 11 cm in length, their antennae usually only have 4 or 5 segments. Two or 3 ocelli are usual and their compound eyes are normally well developed. The main feature of the group is the mouthparts which are of the piercing/sucking type. the mandibles and maxillae form 2 pairs of piercing stylets and are contained in a flexible sheath derived from the labium. All the Homopterans and many of the Heteropterans feed on plant juices, though many of the Heteroptera are predatory and some are useful as controllers of plant pests. The 2 groups can often be distinguished easily as the Heteropterans have a large pronotum and a relatively small mesonotum and metonotumu whereas most Homopterans have a small pronotum and a large mesonotum and slightly smaller metanotum. Further to this the wings of the Heteropterans are usually held flat over the body and the forewings which are hard and stiff almost like beetle elytra have the end part soft and membranous; therefore Heteropteran forewings are referred to as 'hemi-elytra'. Homopterans usually hold their wings over the body like a tent and the forewings are entirely sclerotised with no membraneuos tip.
The following are the result of my poor scanning and rearranging (to save space) of 12 plates from " The HEMIPTERA HETEROPTERA of the British Islands" by Edward Saunders, F.L.S. 1892.
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