The defensive chemicals of certain species can cause significant damage if they come into contact with human skin; they may also cause temporary blindness.

Some tessaratomids guard their eggs and nymphs from predators which may include parasitoid wasps and assassin bugs.

For example, in Pygoplatys tenangau, the egg clusters are distinctively hexagonal;[10] while in Piezosternum subulatum, they are arranged in two neat rows.

[11] The eggs are usually initially white, cream, or yellow in color but can change as the embryos inside mature.

In some species, nymphs often exhibit strikingly vibrant colors in contrast to the relative drabness of adults.

[14][15] In 1998, Gogala et al. described tessaratomines of the genus Pygoplatys from Thailand and Malaysia showing egg guarding behavior.

The nymphs were firmly clutching unto the bottom side of the abdomens of the adults and to each other, forming a compact mass.

[10][12][17] In the Indonesian species Pygoplatys tenangau, females will cover the clutch of 70 to 120 eggs with their bodies after laying them, literally "standing guard" over them.

[10] In the subfamily Oncomerinae, a predominantly Australian group of large colorful bugs, brooding behavior varies from species which do not practice it at all (exhibited by Musgraveia sulciventris) to adult females carrying first and second instar nymphs on their abdomens.

[19] Oncomerines of the genera Cumare, Garceus, and Peltocopta exhibit the most advanced form of maternal care.

Like the previously described Southeast Asian Pygoplatys individuals, the females actually carry young nymphs around on their abdomens.

As the nymphs grow older, they eventually separate from their mothers, lose their bright colors, and become more solitary prior to molting into adults.

[4] Of the Australian oncomerines, the bronze orange bug (Musgraveia sulciventris) is the only species unequivocally documented to lack maternal brooding behavior.

[19] Tesseratomids, like most heteropterans use chemical defenses (allomones),[20] the source of the common name for pentatomoids - 'stink bugs'.

This behavior, along with their bright colorations and stink glands is believed to help in discouraging potential predators.

[22] If all these defenses fail, tessaratomids will escape predators either by flying away or dropping to the ground (except in cases of females guarding eggs as discussed above).

); and the lychee giant stink bug Tessaratoma papillosa by the wasps Ooencyrtus phongi, Anastatus spp.

[23] In tessaratomids considered to be agricultural pests (like the Musgraveia sulciventris and Tessaratoma papillosa), the wasps that parasitize them are being studied as potential biological control agents.

[26][27] In the Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi provinces of China, mass-reared Anastatus japonicus are being released to combat Tessaratoma papillosa pests in lychee and longan crops.

[23] The edible stink bug Encosternum delegorguei is consumed as human food in Zimbabwe and among the Venda people of South Africa.

The chemicals released by the bugs can often stain the hands of collectors orange if they collect them barehanded.

[31] As dead bugs can not release the remaining chemicals in their bodies, they are deemed unsuitable for consumption and discarded.

The bugs are beheaded and carefully squeezed so chemicals in their stink glands flow out the severed neck.

[32] After removing the wings, the dried bugs can be eaten as is, fried with a little salt, or cooked with a type of porridge called pap.

Studies are being done in South Africa for ways to ensure sustainable harvests of E. delegorguei, as well as for the possibilities of rearing them in captivity for human consumption.

They are very large bugs, around 20 mm (0.79 in) in length, whose native host plants are members of the rue family, Rutaceae.

Agapophyta bipunctata are known minor pests of coconuts (Cocos nucifera) and sago (Metroxylon sagu) as well.

[5] In 1900, the Hungarian entomologist Géza Horváth divided the family into 9 tribes and established a key to determining genera.

[45][46] A study on the phylogenetic relationships of the superfamily Pentatomoidea in 2008 hints that Tessaratomidae and Dinidoridae represented a monophyletic group.

[47] Urostylididae Saileriolidae Acanthosomatidae Tessaratomidae Dinidoridae Cydnidae Thaumastellidae Parastrachiinae Thyreocoridae Lestoniidae Phloeidae Scutelleridae Plataspididae Pentatomidae Canopidae Megarididae