• Animals Kingdom (Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

• Insects (Class Insecta)

• True Bugs, Hoppers, Aphids, and Allies (Order Hemiptera)

• True Bugs (Suborder Heteroptera)

• Pentatomomorph Bugs (Infraorder Pentatomomorpha)

• Seed Bugs and Allies (Superfamily Pentatomoidea)

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The superfamily Pentatomoidea is a large and diverse group of true bugs within the infraorder Pentatomomorpha and the suborder Heteroptera. Members of this superfamily are distributed worldwide and are especially abundant in forests, grasslands, agricultural fields, gardens, and tropical ecosystems. Pentatomoids are commonly known as the shield bugs and allies because many species possess a broad, shield-shaped body with a large triangular scutellum on the back. Most species are plant feeders that use their piercing-sucking mouthparts to extract sap and nutrients from leaves, stems, fruits, seeds, and developing crops.