Bugs--arthropods or Hemiptera?

[MintyWood826]

Just wondering what y'all consider to be bugs--arthropods in general, or just Hemiptera (aka 'true bugs').

I vote arthropods in general.

 

[The Seraph]

Just wondering what y'all consider to be bugs--arthropods in general, or just Hemiptera (aka 'true bugs').

I vote arthropods in general.

Only Hemiptera. I am a stickler for using proper names for things.

 

[MintyWood826]

BTW part of the reason I made this was to see if I should start calling only Hemiptera bugs and the other arthropods something else.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

I say bugs because there isn't another simple, familiar term for arthropods in general. If i'm referring to hemipterans, I say "hemipteran" because anyone who would know the 'real' meaning of "bug" will know what a hemipteran is.

I become irritated when someone insists on only using "bug" for hemipterans in casual conversation. Do you have a better general term for terrestrial arthropods that the average person would understand?

 

[MintyWood826]

I say bugs because there isn't another simple, familiar term for arthropods in general. If i'm referring to hemipterans, I say "hemipteran" because anyone who would know the 'real' meaning of "bug" will know what a hemipteran is.

I become irritated when someone insists on only using "bug" for hemipterans in casual conversation. Do you have a better general term for terrestrial arthropods that the average person would understand?

Yeah that's pretty much why I'm not using a technically correct term like I usually do.

 

[Inverts4life1]

I'm with @The Seraph on this one. Me being an entomologist especially, Hemipterans are the only "true bugs"......which is also why I try to stay away from common names.......I don't get into anyones case about it though and even I use "bugs" as a general when talking to little kids or something......but if they are interested enough and want to really learn then I make sure to set them straight

 

[schmiggle]

If I want to get into it with people, I won't say bugs, because Latin clade names are easier. So I only ever say bugs in casual conversation to begin with, and you better believe I'm not limiting myself to hemiptera when I do so. Otherwise it becomes unwieldy, as salmonsaladsandwich said.

 

[MasterOogway]

I say bugs because there isn't another simple, familiar term for arthropods in general. If i'm referring to hemipterans, I say "hemipteran" because anyone who would know the 'real' meaning of "bug" will know what a hemipteran is.

Mostly this, but I do insist all my volunteers learn the Latin and the common orders. Also, if we're talking to the public, I try to have them be specific and use the right terminology because there's enough misinformation out there regarding inverts as it is, and we don't need to be adding to it. Specifics matter! But in casual conversations I feel like 'bugs' is fine.

 

[kuchipatchis]

im sorry, in casual conversations, ill refer to a lot of invertebrates as "bugs" including things like worms! i know that hemipterans are "true bugs" but i feel like thats pedantic so when i mean hemipteran, thats what i say.

 

[sschind]

I do a show called Bugs, Beetles and Bookworms for schools and libraries and I use the term bugs to refer to all terrestrial arthropods. When my boss started the program (before I took it over) he even used it to refer to crabs and lobsters and such which if you use it to describe arthropods is correct but I personally limit it to terrestrial arthropods. Depending on the ages of the kids I may bring up the point about Hemipterans being true bugs but 99% will not understand and do not care and for 5 and 6 year olds I don't think it will matter.

I justify it in that I have always seen Hemipterans labeled as "true bugs" which implies that there may be such things as "false bugs" otherwise why would they have to label them as "true" wouldn't they just be bugs.

In the signage that I use for my self guided shows I do explain the the difference and why I use the term in the more general senses but that is because I get more adults and older children.

For 99.999% of the world I think it is perfectly acceptable to use the term bug in the more general sense.

 

[kuchipatchis]

I justify it in that I have always seen Hemipterans labeled as "true bugs" which implies that there may be such things as "false bugs" otherwise why would they have to label them as "true" wouldn't they just be bugs.

yeah, thats a great way to put it i think

 

[VolkswagenBug]

Terrestrial arthropods, such that terrestrial isopods like Armadillidium are included along with your typical fare of arachnids, myriapods, insects, and springtails, but crabs, lobsters, and crayfish are excluded. If I need to refer to Hemiptera as anything other than that, I say "true bugs."

 

[MintyWood826]

I wish I could change the option to terrestrial arthropods as I wouldn't call crabs and such bugs...lol.

 

[MARC NORMAN]

I would consider arthropods bugs.

 

[sschind]

I wish I could change the option to terrestrial arthropods as I wouldn't call crabs and such bugs...lol.

I agree but these things sure look a lot like bugs. High on my want list but I doubt they are keepable for the average person. I understand high pressure is essential to keeping them alive successfully.

 

[The Seraph]

I agree but these things sure look a lot like bugs. High on my want list but I doubt they are keepable for the average person. I understand high pressure is essential to keeping them alive successfully.

On the plus side, they not only eat everything, they can go for many years without eating.

 

[VolkswagenBug]

I agree but these things sure look a lot like bugs. High on my want list but I doubt they are keepable for the average person. I understand high pressure is essential to keeping them alive successfully.

As I understand it, the problem is less about the conditions to keep them in (it's pretty similar to how one would take care of a lobster, which is reasonably easy for someone to do) and more about obtaining them in the first place. If you live in a North American or European country, as most of the people on this forum do, you can't just go out into the ocean and get one yourself and it's highly unlikely that they'd be able to survive shipping (or get through customs in the first place). They are also extremely expensive if you do erase the other problems; I've heard of zoos buying them for upwards of $10,000, and I don't think there's an established breeding strategy.
It would be really cool to keep them if it were plausible, though.

 

[sschind]

As I understand it, the problem is less about the conditions to keep them in (it's pretty similar to how one would take care of a lobster, which is reasonably easy for someone to do) and more about obtaining them in the first place. If you live in a North American or European country, as most of the people on this forum do, you can't just go out into the ocean and get one yourself and it's highly unlikely that they'd be able to survive shipping (or get through customs in the first place). They are also extremely expensive if you do erase the other problems; I've heard of zoos buying them for upwards of $10,000, and I don't think there's an established breeding strategy.
It would be really cool to keep them if it were plausible, though.

For some reason I was under the impression they were from deep water and didn't survive well at low pressures. If I had Bill Gates type money I'd have a tank full of them. Provided I could get the of course.

 

[MasterOogway]

Most deep water critters can survive at surface or near surface pressures as long as they're acclimated very very slowly. I've seen these at the Shedd Aquarium before I think. But you'll commonly see rockfish in exhibits at zoos and aquariums and they're usually deeper water animals too. Not as deep as the isopods, but still down there a ways.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Giant isopods are sometimes sold as a novelty seafood. They aren't supposed to taste so great but they survive well in lobster tanks and even out of the water for many hours.