''Anthocoris nemoralis'' is a true bug in the family

Anthocoridae Anthocoridae is a family of bugs, commonly called minute pirate bugs or flower bugs. Worldwide there are 500-600 species. Description Anthocoridae are 1.5–5 mm long and have soft, elongated oval, flat bodies, often patterned in black an ...

. The species is native to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and is introduced in North America. It is a predator of

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

spider mite Spider mites are members of the Tetranychidae family, which includes about 1,200 species. They are part of the subclass Acari (mites). Spider mites generally live on the undersides of leaves of plants, where they may spin protective silk webs, a ...

s and jumping plant lice, and is therefore used as a

biological pest control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...

agent.

Description

The adult of this species is about long and is mostly black, with white markings on its wings. The nymphs grow to about long, the smaller nymphs being yellowish to orange, and the larger ones having a yellowish to orange head and thorax and a darker coloured abdomen.

Distribution

''Anthocoris nemoralis'' has a West

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sib ...

distribution and is found from the British Isles across Western Europe East to the Caucasus and South to the Mediterranean basin. It is absent from Fennoscandia. It was introduced into Eastern Canada accidentally, and then in 1963 was introduced purposefully into British Columbia in an attempt to control pear psylla. Later it spread southwards to California where it feeds on various exotic psylla pests of ornamental plants.

Ecology

Both the nymphs and the adults of ''A. nemoralis'' are predaceous, feeding by plunging their

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

es into their insect prey and sucking out the body fluids. Adults overwinter under bark, among leaf litter or in other sheltered locations. They emerge in spring to lay their eggs in plant tissues of their host tree. In leaves, the eggs are inserted under the

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and hypodermis. The epidermis layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the amount of water rel ...

so that there is a bulge in the leaf surface, and only the whitish operculum at one end of the egg is visible. These soon hatch into nymphs which feed voraciously. The whole developmental cycle takes about 15 days and there may be up to four generations in a year. These bugs are able to utilise a range of different trees, with a wide range of prey being targeted; the prey include aphids, spider mites,

thrips Thrips (order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

, juvenile

scale insect Scale insects are small insects of the order Hemiptera, suborder Sternorrhyncha. Of dramatically variable appearance and extreme sexual dimorphism, they comprise the infraorder Coccomorpha which is considered a more convenient grouping than th ...

s, pear psylla and the eggs of a variety of insects. The French entomologist Franck Hérard in 1986 listed it as eating twelve species of insect and five species of mite. In Europe it is considered to be one of the most important control agents of '' Cacopsylla pyricola'' and ''

Psylla pyri ''Psylla pyri'', commonly known as the pear psylla or pear psyllid, is an insect in the family Psyllidae. Originating in Europe and Asia, it has spread to North America. It is a pest of pear trees, sucking the sap, damaging the foliage, flowers ...

'' and has a density-dependent relationship with the former.

References

External links

British Bugs
{{Taxonbar, from=Q10413188 Anthocoridae Hemiptera of Europe Hemiptera of North America Insects used as insect pest control agents Insects described in 1794 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius