Squash Bug belongs to which order?

• A. Coleoptera
• B. Lepidoptera
• C. Diptera
• D. Hemiptera

Answer: (D)

This question tests how insects are classified by their mouthparts and wings. Squash bugs are true bugs, which places them in the order Hemiptera. The key features of this group are piercing-sucking mouthparts (a rostrum) used to extract plant sap or animal fluids, and forewings that are partly hardened into a structure called a hemelytron with a membranous tip. They also undergo incomplete metamorphosis, meaning nymphs look like smaller versions of adults.

This combination distinguishes Hemiptera from other orders: beetles have full armor-like elytra and chewing mouthparts, moths and butterflies have scaled wings and a siphoning mouthpart, and flies have one pair of wings and different mouthparts. So the squash bug, with its piercing-sucking mouthparts and hemelytra, belongs to Hemiptera.