Feeding Strategies and the Guild Concept Among Vascular Feeding Insects and Microorganisms

Two large orders of insects—the Hemiptera and Homoptera—possess mouthparts that are highly modified for piercing tissues and extracting their fluid contents. Food sought by hemipterans may be the blood of vertebrates [e.g., Cimicidae (bed bugs)], the hemolymph of other invertebrates [e.g., Reduviidae (ambush bugs) and Gerridae (water striders)] or the cytoplasm and sap of plants [many Miridae (plant bugs) and Pentatomidae (stink bugs) (76)]. The Homoptera are strictly plant feeders (23), the only exceptions being several species of aphids with predatory early instars (2).