Miridae

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Miridae

The large and diverse insect family Miridae contains the plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs, and may also be known as capsid bugs. It is the largest family of true bugs belonging to the suborder Heteroptera

Heteroptera

Heteroptera is a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the Hemiptera. Sometimes called "true bugs", that name more commonly refers to Hemiptera as a whole, and "typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal alternative since among the Hemiptera the heteropterans are most consistently and universally termed "bugs"....
, with over 10,000 known species and new ones constantly being described. They are small, terrestrial insects, usually oval-shaped or elongate and measuring less than 12 mm in length.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Miridae'

Start a new discussion about 'Miridae'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

Heteroptera

Mimic

Biology mimicry occurs when a group of organisms, the mimics, have evolution to share common perception characteristics with another group, the models, through the selection action of a signal-receiver or dupe....
s at certain stages of life. Most of the more well-known mirids have received attention because they are agricultural pests. They pierce plant tissues and feed on the juices.

Some mirid species:

Lygus bugs
Lygus

The genus Lygus includes over 40 species of plant-feeding insects in the family Miridae. At one time, nearly 200 species were classified as genus Lygus, but most of those have since been reclassified into new or existing genera....
(Lygus
Lygus

The genus Lygus includes over 40 species of plant-feeding insects in the family Miridae. At one time, nearly 200 species were classified as genus Lygus, but most of those have since been reclassified into new or existing genera....
spp.), including the tarnished and western tarnished plant bugs, are serious pests in the cotton, strawberry
Strawberry

Fragaria is the name of a genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, commonly known as strawberries for their edible fruits....
, and alfalfa
Alfalfa

Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop. In the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand it is known as lucerne and as lucerne grass in south Asia....
industries.

Apple dimpling bug (Campylomma liebknechti) damages apple
APPLE

This article is about the satellite APPLE. For the fruit apple, see Apple. For other uses see Apple .The Ariane Passenger PayLoad Experiment , was an experimental communication satellite with a C-Band transponder launched by Indian Space Research Organisation satellite on June 19, 1981 by Ariane 1, a launch vehicle of the European Spac...
blossoms and small growing fruits.

Mosquito bugs Helopeltis spp. - that infest various crops including tea
Tea

Tea refers to the agricultural products of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods....
, cacao
Cacao

Cacao , or the cocoa plant, is a small evergreen tree in the family Sterculiaceae , native to the deep tropical region of the Americas. There are two prominent competing hypotheses about the origins of the original wild Theobroma cacao tree....
and cotton
Cotton

Cotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa....

Honeylocust plant bug (Diaphnocoris chlorionis) damages foliage on honeylocust
Honey locust

The Honey locust is a deciduous tree native to eastern North America. It is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys ranging from southeastern South Dakota to New Orleans and central Texas, and as far east as central Pennsylvania....
trees.

Green mirid (Creontiades dilutus) damages many types of field crops.

Potato mirid (Calocoris norvegicus) is a noted pest of potato
Potato

The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial plant Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family. The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well....
and clover
Clover

Clover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes on mountains in the tropics....
plants in New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
.

Deraeocoris nebulosus prefers other insects to plants in its diet, and has been used as a biocontrol agent
Biological pest control

Biological control of pests in agriculture is a method of pest control that relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms....
against mite
Mite

Mites, along with ticks, belong to the subclass Acarina and the class Arachnida. Mites are among the most diverse and successful of all the invertebrate groups....
s and scale insect
Scale insect

The scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, generally classified as the superfamily Coccoidea. There are about 8,000 species of scale insects....
s.

External links

on the UF
University of Florida

The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
/ IFAS
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The University of Florida?s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible....
Featured Creatures Web site