Hemiptera Life Cycle

Birth

• Insects in the hemiptera order are born in mass egg groupings, like most insects, a few days after the eggs are laid. Some species of hemiptera are aquatic. As a result, these eggs will be laid either underwater or near the surface of the water. They are capable of moving and feeding themselves immediately and require no rearing by their parents. However, they have little natural defense at such a young age. This is why they will hatch with thousands of their brothers and sisters, as many of them will be eaten when young.

Nymph Stage

• The hemiptera, as an order, are hemimetabolous, which means they do not undergo a transformation between their larval and adult stages. Most large bugs will transform. For example, all flies go through a maggot stage, after which they turn into flies. Hemiptera do not. They are the largest insects to be hemimetabolous. Their nymphs look like smaller versions of their adult species, except without wings. Internally, they lack sexual organs. In addition, some aphid species are parthenogenetic, which means they can lay unfertilized eggs which will then grow into small clones of the egg layer.

Growth of Wings

• As they grow, one of the first things that an adult hemiptera insects will gain wings, which they use to avoid their predators. The predator species of hemiptera also use their wings to hunt and swoop down on their prey. Without their wings, they are almost helpless. This is why they grow wings so quickly. However, some species, like most aphids, don't grow wings.

  As the insects grow, their jaws will get bigger to help them eat larger pieces of food, and they will grow stronger so that they can attack or defend themselves more efficiently.

Growth of Sex Organs

• After the hemiptera insects have grown wings and nearly reached full adulthood, they begin to grow their sexual organs. There are male and females in each species. The male hemiptera will begin to look different from the females at this point. The males will grow larger, with stronger jaws, and they will be brighter in color. The females being duller in color and smaller allows them to hide easier from the predators that would gladly eat something that is full of eggs. When the insects' sexual organs are grown, they have reached adulthood.

Adulthood

• When the hemiptera insects have reached adulthood, they will stop growing. They will be as strong as they are going to be, and their body will be fully developed. They will begin mating during their spawning season. The spawning season is rough on most insects. During the spawning season, they will generally neglect eating and simply spawn as much as they can.