page_title: Hemiptera
section_title: Parthenogenesis and viviparity
hierarchical_section_title: Hemiptera / Biology / Life cycle / Parthenogenesis and viviparity
caption_attribution_description: An aphid giving birth to live young.
context_page_description: The Hemiptera or true bugs are an order of insects comprising some 50,000 to 80,000 species of groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, and shield bugs. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts. The name "true bugs" is often limited to the suborder Heteroptera. Many insects commonly known as "bugs", especially in American English, belong to other orders; for example, the lovebug is a fly and the May bug and ladybug are beetles.
  Most hemipterans feed on plants, using their sucking and piercing mouthparts to extract plant sap. Some are hematophagous, while others are predators that feed on other insects or small invertebrates. They live in a wide variety of habitats, generally terrestrial, though some species are adapted to life in or on the surface of fresh water. Hemipterans are hemimetabolous, with young nymphs that somewhat resemble adults. Many aphids are capable of parthenogenesis, producing young from unfertilised eggs; this helps them to reproduce extremely rapidly in favourable conditions.
  Humans have interacted with the Hemiptera for millennia.
context_section_description: Many aphids are parthenogenetic during part of the life cycle, such that females can produce unfertilized eggs, which are clones of their mother. All such young are females (thelytoky), so 100% of the population at these times can produce more offspring. Many species of aphid are also viviparous: the young are born live rather than laid as eggs. These adaptations enable aphids to reproduce extremely rapidly when conditions are suitable.
caption: Aphid giving birth to live female young
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