The organisms "Cicada, Froghopper and Pond skater" are:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (c) Insects
All three are insects, and all three belong to Hemiptera, the true bugs. The cicada is the loud 'singing' insect of trees, the froghopper (spittlebug) is a small jumping insect whose young hide in blobs of froth on plants, and the pond skater (water strider) runs across the surface film of still water.
- ✓ (c) Cicadas and froghoppers (spittlebugs) are grouped in the Auchenorrhyncha, and water striders (pond skaters) in the Heteroptera; both groups are true bugs (order Hemiptera), and true bugs are insects with six legs and a body in three parts.
- ✗ (b) The pond skater lives on water but never under it: water-repellent hairs on its legs let it stand on the surface, and it breathes air like other insects.
- ✗ (d) 'Froghopper' is only a name for its frog-like leap; it is a small bug, not a reptile or an amphibian.
Remember · Cicada (Cicadidae), froghopper or spittlebug (Cercopidae) and pond skater or water strider (Gerridae) are all insects of the bug group Hemiptera.
Sources
- U.S. National Park Service, Highlights of the Hemiptera BioBlitz: groups of true bugs ↗ “The Auchenorrhyncha (Free-living hemipterans): froghoppers, spittlebugs, cicadas, leafhoppers, planthoppers … The Heteroptera (“Different wings”), which include stink bugs, squash bugs, bed bugs, chinch bugs, milkweed bugs, boxelder bugs, backswimmers, water striders, water boatmen, assassin bugs, and more”
- U.S. National Park Service, Species Spotlight: Water Striders (pond skaters) ↗ “Also known as pond skaters or water skippers, striders populate the Gerridae family of insects, of which there are about 1700 species worldwide”
- U.S. National Park Service, I Didn't Know That! Emerging Cicadas ↗ “Cicadas belong to the order Hemiptera, or the “true bugs.” Young cicadas, or “nymphs,” live underground, feeding from tree roots until they emerge and molt into adults.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·