There are 133 families of Hemiptera found worldwide, consisting of 60 000 species. In Australia 99 of these families are represented with just 5650 species present. Up until recently this order was divided into just 2 main groups or suborders consisting of the Heteroptera or 'true bugs' and the Homoptera, which included a diverse range of individuals. Now the Hemiptera are divided into 3 suborders. The Heteroptera have remained as they were, but the Homoptera are now divided into the suborders Sternorrhyncha and Auchenorrhyncha. Follow the links below to find out more about the families of Hemiptera. Those in bold represent the hemipteran families present in Australia.

For more bugs, aphids, hoppers and cicada species visit the Australian Insect Common Names