Plantbugs, Miridae. Suborder of the bugs (Heteroptera). This is a very large
family with over 10.000 species in the world. The bugs in many subfamilies are
different shaped. Some species are known because they are a pest to agriculture.
They feed on plant juices. These juices are absorbed with their snout.
Plant bugs, Miridae can be distinguished from the pirate bugs, Anthocoriden bugs
and the groud bugs, Lygaeidae by the absence of ocelli. An ocellus, plural ocelli is also called a
simple eye or pigment pit. Many insects have three on their foreheads. They seem to distinguish light and dark.
Therefore, these bugs has the Dutch name "blind bugs". But of course they can see well.
I had already photographed this bug as
a nymph. See photo
It's a 4 mm predator bug. It
feeds on insekts like aphids, red mites. It's a swift runner.
The adults overwinter.
A common species in Europe.It is usually
found in deciduous trees and shrubs. Here I
have photographed one on a birch and one on a Redflower
currant.
German: Rotbeinige Baumwanze French:
Punaise à pattes rousses,
I could only make one photo. And then it was gone.
A small bug with pale legs. The antennae are entirely black. Striking are the white sides of the
scutellum.
They are often found on red and white campion (Lychnis).
Dicyphus errans
Tribe:
Dicyphini. Family blind Bugs (Miridae)
A robbery bug like you can see in the picture. In real you recognize it not immediately as a bug, because it is so
small, slim and shiny. It would therefore be a small wasp.
It lives on many different plants.
June - October Length 4,5 - 5 mm.
Photo 16-8-2011
Tribe: Deraeocorini. Oval-shaped bugs, 5 to 10 mm.
The colours are variable. The male is darker than the female. The female is more brown orange. The side of the scutellum is
pale. Also pale are the front and rear margins of the pronotum. The tibia
has pale bands. The color of the cuneus is variable, usually pale red.
It is found in many plants. Like sycamore and field maple.
June-
July
Length 7, 8 mm
Photo 5-8-2010
Tribe: Mirini. A large group of bugs, which differ in shape. Both elongated and oval.
Common
Nettle Capsid(Liocoris tripustulatus)
Tribe: Mirini. Family: Plant Bugs Miridae
They occur of course on the nettle, but also on other plants. I have read
the bug can be a pest
of agriculture and in greenhouses. For plants as blackberry bushes, raspberry, cucumber, paprika, gerbera, Chrysanthemums.
Still it is a beautiful little plant bug.
Length
3,5-5 mm. The adults hibernate.
German: Gepunktete Nesselwanze
Nymph Common
Nettle Capsid (Liocoris
tripustulatus) 5th stadium
The spickled legs of the nymph are similar to
the legs of an adult Common
Nettle Capsid, but they are
entirely green. It is said, the larvae live on nettle only. They like the
juices of the flowers. This nymph, however, I found on a Ragwort (Jacobaea
vulgaris) with no nettle in the nabourhood
Common Green Capsid (Lygocoris
pabulinus) Tribe: Mirini. Family: Plant Bugs Miridae
This bright green bugs can be a pest. It sucks on apples, but also on some
berries and potatoes.
I see them everywhere in the garden. So far, in my garden I can't
find much damage in the apple trees.
In the autumn it lay the eggs on fruit trees. In the spring the larvae
feed on the young leaves and buds.
On this photo however, the nymph is on a purple loosestrife together with
some snout beetles (Nanophyes
marmoratus), described on page "beetles"
.
May - October.
Length: 5, 6 mm.
Lygus rugulipennis is variable in
colour from tan to purple. It is densely covered with short hairs.
It lives in many plants. Also in cultivated plants such as potatoes and cabbage. This can cause damage.
It hibernates as an adult bug.
Length 5 to 6 mm.
Europe, Asia and Japan, North America
Lygus pratensis
Tribe: Mirini.Family: Plant Bugs
Miridae
They are variable in color. From green to brown
In late summer you'll find the adult bugs,
which overwinter.
The bugs suck plant sap, but also the nectar of
flowers.
Lygus pratensis is wide spread all over Europe, North Africa and a part of
Asia.
Length: 6 - 7 mm.
Nymph Lygus.
According to Berend Aukema the nymphs of five Lygus species are similar. I
have photographed it early October. At the end of October I found
the Lygus pratensisin on the same Common Ragwort .
So maybe..................
It
is found on oaks and is similar to M. beckeri. It feeds on oak sap, but
also on small insects.
Adults: July - Ocober.
Length about 7 mm.
Miris striatus nymph
Miris striatus adult
An older nymph
Photos 15-5-2011
Miris striatus nymphTribe:
Mirini.Family: Plant Bugs (Miridae)
In April 2009 I found these nymphs on the leaves of a currant bush. They
are ant-like nymphs like the nymphs of the Himacerus mirmicoides. But
with
yellow markings.
Miris striatus adultTribe:
Mirini.Family: Plant Bugs (Miridae)
They are predatory bugs. Especially lice, larvae of moths and
beetles.
The eggs hibernate. Adult May - July. Length: 9 - 11 mm (a nymph is of
course smaller)
German: Prachtwanze, Gestreifte Weichwanze
The photos were taken in June. Although this little bug was quite common in
the garden at that time, I was unable to take a sharp photo.
It is green, but lighter than the Common Green Capsid. The wings
are just a bit darker. Characteristic, I think, are the two dark spots on
the back.
The eyes are bright green.
In the Netherlands, there are the Neolygus
viridis(dark
top antenna, darker around scutellum) andNeolygus
populi.(shorter
antennas)
It is common on birch.
Adults: June-September Length: 5, 6 mm.
It looks a lot like the orthopedic kalmii.
In the Netherlands Orthopedic basalis is by far the commonest of the two.
The third antennal segment of an orthopedic basalis is long. The distance between the eyes
of O. kalmii is relative to the width of the eyes much smaller!
It also looks also like the Nettle Capsid (Liocoris tripustulatus). But orthopedic has no dark rings on the shin and antennas.
You can find them on umbelliferous. Here it is on celery.
The adult bug overwinters. The eggs are laid in spring on young leaves of the host plant. The young green larvae appear in May-July
Augustus - October
Length: 9 -10 mm
The first antennal segments are thick.
Color: green to reddish brown.
The photo shows also a Kleidocerys resedae.
You find them in alder, but also in hazel and birch.
The colour of this bug is variable. Pale brown, brown and green. The first antennal segment is
pale. The second antennal segment is also pale, but has a dark tip. The wings are slightly transparent.
The cuneus is white with a dark tip (sometimes red).
Found in various plants such as ivy and ash.
Length about 4 mm.
Throughout the year.
Photo 13-1-2012. The first
bug of 2012 I found it at the window. Because the weather was bad, I kept it to make
pictures one day later. Unfortunately, it died. I also was able to make a photograph of the underside. The snout is clearly visible.
A bug with a long, small body. You can confuse him with Notostira elongata.
Difference: There is a notch in the underside of the hind
femora, near the apex.
It is also very similar to the Stenodema calcarata and Stenodema
trispinosa. But they have two spines inside of the rear thigh.
(femoral spurs)
It hunts in the grass. By its body shape and colour it is difficult to
find.
Length 8 - 10 mm.
The adult bug overwinters. Then its colour is brown. In spring it turn
green.
Photos 14-4-2010.
Tribe: Orthotylini. A large group. Variable in shape and colour
A slim little bug with strange shaped antennae.
In June, I photographed the nymphs.
The adult bugs are
found from July to September. The eggs overwinter.
It is similar to the Heterotoma merioptera. But this is a rare wants in the Netherlands.
The bug feeds on aphids and other small insects, but sucks pant juice as
well.
Length: 5 mm. Europe.
German: Breitfühler-Weichwanze
Nymphs Heterotoma planicornis
Tribe: Pilophorini. A small group of bugs, antlike.
The in the Netherlands much more rare Pilophorus
simulans is also possible. The differences are very small (according to Berend
Aukema).
It has a characteristic band of yellowish hairs across the wing covers.
It's an ant-like bug.
Pilophorus perplexus is
found on deciduous trees like oak.
It is a predatory bug, but it sucks pant juice as
well.
Adults: July - October
It overwinters as an egg.
Length 4, 5 mm.
A dark little bug covered with pale hairs. The second segment of the antenna is thickened
like the Heterotoma. The first segment is also thick, but is much thinner at the base.
They can be found on apple and hawthorn. On this photo it is on a young apple. These are also the food
plants, but it is also partly predatory.
June-August.
Length: About 3.5 mm. So tiny.
There are two similar members of the family. Namely A. magnicornis, A. parvulus. They
live in other plants.
Photo: 14-6-2011.
Harpocera thoracica Tribe:
Phylini. Family: Plant Bugs (Miridae) They don't look alike, but both
are Harpocera thoracica. The left wants on my watch is the female. The
right one is the male. The male has a distinctive inflated second antennal
segment.
These photos were taken in May. They are common in May. They live about a
month. Then you have to wait another year, before you see them again. The
larvae develop in about two weeks.
They live in oaks. They suck juices of the oak, but they also feed on
aphids.
Length: 6 mm
This bug stung me in my hand, when I was working in the garden. It did not hurt. I took my camera. But it is not easy to photograph your right hand with your left hand. When I tried to move the bug, it escaped.
This Phylus has a striking dark head (not always), while the rest of the body
is pale. It is partly a robber. There are three species Phylus in the Netherlands.
They
seem to prefer nettles. But they also sit on other plants. The colour is
variable.
The thighs have above and below a black
stripe.
Length: 3,5-5 mm
They
are very similar (Difference genitals.) Both species occur on oak.
It is a brown-black bug. The males are darker than females. The upper
surface is covered with golden hairs. The thighs are dark.
Comment
Berend Aukema (translated): Psallus cf betuleti. Without genital preparation indistinguishable from Psallus
montanus, but this Psallus is less common. Both live on Birch.
The dark antennae of the females have reddish in the middle of the second
segment.
Males are black brown. May - August. Length up to 4 mm. Photo 16-5-2011.
This female does not have reddish in the middle of the second
segment of the antenna.
According to Berend Aukema the bug can be determined as a certain Psallus montanus.
Nederlands /
Dutch
