LIBRARY

HEMIPTERA
thrips, aphids, and leafhoppers, on eggs and newly hatched caterpillars of the
corn ear worm and other moths, and on other small animals. and are at times
of some importance in reducing the numbers of these pests. O. sauten' (Pop.
pius) feeds upon the mulberry leafhopper in Japan.
Family MIRIDlE 1 Hahn 1831 (Mir'i-dre. from the Latin mirus. wonderful).
German, Weichwanzen. Plant Bugs, Leaf Bugs, Capsids, Mirids.
Small to medium-sized, ovate, oblong, or slender, somewhat flattened,
fragile, active species with soft integument, smooth, shiny. pubescent or hairy
bodies, and black, dull, or brilliant colors. Head small, often sharply produced.
Antennre well developed, four-segmented, slender. Eyes well developed.
Ocelli absent. Rostrum long, four-segmented; first segment as long as or
longer than head. Prothorax with or without an apical stricture. Hemelytra
opaque or hyaline, with clavus, corium, cuneus, membrane, and linear un·
differentiated embolium; membrane with two basal cells or areoles and one
longitudinal anal vein; cuneus a well-developed triangular area between the
outer membrane and inner portion. Macropterous, brachypterous, and apterous
forms occur within the genus or even the species. Males are usually macropterous
in species with brachypterous and apterous females. Legs long and
slender. Tarsi normally three-segmented, rarely two-segmented. Claws thick
or slender, widely or sharply curved; with or without bristle-like arolia and
pseudarolia which are of value in separating the subfamilies. Female genitalia
asymmetrical; with sickle-like ovipositor. Male genitalia much used in taxonomic
studies.
The members are largely herbivorous, but many species are distinctly
predacious and a few are both plant and animal feeders. Many of the plantinfesting
forms are most injurious to native vegetation and to cultivated
crops and may fairly swarm over the hosts. The eggs are generally inserted
into the hard and soft tissues of living plants. The adults may hibernate and
emerge in great numbers in the spring. A considerable number of species.
including the tarnished plant bug, Lygus pratensis (Linn.), and Creontiades
pallidus Rambur. carry and transmit plant diseases which may result in large
losses to crops. Predacious species like Cyrtarhinus mundulus Bred. which
feeds on the eggs of the sugar-cane leafhopper in the tropical Pacific area,
and the well-known aphid destroyer, Derreocoris ruber (Linn.), of Europe,
destroy noxious insects and are considered beneficial.
The family is the largest in the suborder. It is usually divided into nine to
16 subfamilies and comprises over 600 genera and 5,000 species. It reaches its
highest development in the Holarctic region. where about 1,100 species are
known. Some of the most important genera are Adelphocl)7is Reuter, Atrac.to·
I The members of this family were originally grouped with the COREID,£ by Leach 1815,
Samouelle 1819. and Stephens 1829. Other designations were CAPSINI Burmeister 1835:
CAPSOIDES Spinola 1837; CAPSIDJE Kirby 1837, Westwood 1840, Butler 1923, Schrllder
1925, Weber 1930, lroms 1934, and others; MIRIDtE Hahn 18.31, Kirk.aldy 1894. Reuter
1910. Van Duzee 1917, Knight 1923. Brues and Melander 1932. Hedicke 1935; PHYTO­
COREIDJE Fieber 1851.