Insects Exhibition of the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

It can also be called Cabbage Bug. It can be found in most of the US In agricultural areas. Tt feeds on the juices of cruciferous plants such as cabbage and on other plants such as beans and grapes. It is not to be confused with the Harlequin Bug of Australia. Harlequin bug is a southern insect ranging from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It is hard to find in the northern part of the world like Pennsylvania or Colorado. It usually regenerate in about 50 - 80 days. The life cycle consists of three stages: egg, nymph and adult. less ↑

The cochineal is a scale insect in the suborder Sternorrhyncha, from which the crimson-coloured dye carmine is derived. A primarily sessile parasite native to tropical and subtropical South America and Mexico, this insect lives on cacti in the genus Opuntia, feeding on plant moisture and nutrients. The insect produces carminic acid that deters predation by other insects. Carminic acid, typically 17–24% of dried insects' weight, can be extracted from the body and eggs then mixed with aluminum or calcium salts to make carmine dye, also known as cochineal. Carmine is today primarily used as a food colouring and for cosmetics, especially as a lipstick colouring. less ↑

Cercopidae are the largest family of Cercopoidea, a xylem-feeding insect group, commonly called froghoppers . They belong to the hemipteran suborder Auchenorrhyncha. Traditionally, most of this superfamily was considered a single family, Cercopidae, but this family has been split into three separate families for many years now: the Aphrophoridae, Cercopidae, and Clastopteridae. These families are best known for the nymph stage, which produces a cover of frothed-up plant sap resembling spit; the nymphs are therefore commonly known as spittlebugs and their froth as cuckoo spit, frog spit or snake spit. less ↑