Gallery Category: Hemiptera

Spotted Lanternfly

Illustration of a spotted lanternfly, which has green forewings with yellow spots, orange hindwings and a green and yellow body.

Saiva cardinalis Distribution: Northeast India, Nepal and Vietnam Size: 420mm Diet: Plant sap Like a lot of the obsure bugs, it’s hard to find interesting facts about some of these (unless, of course, I consult AI and it confidently proclaims they’re made entirely of cheese, have 1 billion legs and were instrumental in the fall […]

Sawtooth Plant Hopper

Illustration of a planthopper with wings spread and a long 'proboscis covered in spines

Cathedra serrata Distribution: Ecuador and Suriname Size: 76mm wingspan Diet: Plant sap Like many of the insects I’ve drawn, this Sawtooth Plant Hopper is pretty well camouflaged when resting on a tree but, when threatened, will immediately spread its wings to reveal much less subdued colouration. This display startles would-be attackers, giving the planthopper an […]

Giant Spiny Assassin Bug

Illustration of a stunning black and red assassin bug

Psytalla horrida Distribution: Western Africa Size: 30 – 45mm body Diet: Other bugs P.horrida is the largest assassin bug in the world, it’s the size of 4 London buses parked end-to-end. It’s also known as the horrid king assassin bug which seems like quite a harsh description when you consider just how horrid kings can be (Henry VIII, […]

Lantern Bug

Illustration of aspotted lantern bug. It has large yellow spots on its upper wings and an elecrtic blue and black lower wings

Pyrops whiteheadi Lantern bugs are so called because in 1705 a German naturalist named Maria Sibylla Merian mistakenly thought their conspicuous snouts lit up like miniature lamps. It’s likely she’d confused these bugs with bioluminescent click beetles, but the myth persisted for some time. It’s lucky I wasn’t a naturalist back in those days because […]

Man-faced Shield Bug

Illustration of a blue, orange and red shield bug

Catacanthus nigripes Distribution: Asia Size: 35mm Diet: Sap, flowers, buds & nectar from various plants Shield (or stink) bugs like this belong to the family Pentatomidae, which means five sections in Greek. This refers to the 5 sections of the bugs’ antennae. Unlike beetles, whose delicate wings are protected by a hardened casing known as elytra, shield bug wings […]

Man-faced Shield Bug

Illustration of a bright yellow shield bug

Catacanthus incarnatus Distribution: Madagascar, South and Southeast Asia, Oceania Size: 25-30mm Diet: Sap, flowers, buds & nectar of various plants Shield bugs are, somewhat unkindly, referred to as ‘stink bugs’ by Americans. Whilst this term is a bit mean, it’s also quite accurate. You see, when trying to deter predators (or Americans), shield bugs can […]

Cicada

Detailed illustration of an orange and black cicada with bold black / brown wings

Tosena albata Distribution: Southeast Asia Size: 130mm wingspan Diet: Tree sap I can’t find out much about this species, so I’ll shed some light on the drawing process instead. All of my drawings are based on nice detailed photos of specimens, the majority of which I’ve bought from (hopefully) ethical sellers. This particular cicada is […]