''Monalocoris filicis'' is a

true bug Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to around ...

in the family

Miridae The Miridae are a large and diverse insect family at one time known by the taxonomic synonym Capsidae. Species in the family may be referred to as capsid bugs or "mirid bugs". Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs. It is the ...

. The species is found in

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 ...

from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the West and including the northern edge of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and the East across the

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-Sibe ...

Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

, it is widespread and generally common. In the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

, it occurs up to the edge of the forest. Habitats are deciduous and coniferous forests and moist, open habitats such as bogs or the shores of streams. Adults are 2.0-3.1 mm long and are a golden brown color, and have a pale-orange head and are therefore easily identifiable. They are similar to '' Bryocoris pteridis'' from which they can be distinguished by the first segment of the antenna, which is shorter than the head is wide. The adult animals are always fully winged (macropterous). ''Monalocoris filicis'' feeds on ''

Dryopteris filix-mas ''Dryopteris filix-mas'', the male fern, is a common fern of the temperate Northern Hemisphere, native to much of Europe, Asia, and North America. It favours damp shaded areas in the understory of woodlands, but also shady places on hedge-banks, ...

'' and '' Pteridium aquilinum'' occasionally alongside ''

Monalocoris parvulus ''Monalocoris'' is a genus of plant bugs in the family Miridae. There are about 19 described species in ''Monalocoris''. Species These 19 species belong to the genus ''Monalocoris'': * '' Monalocoris amamianus'' Yasunaga, 2000 * '' Monalocoris ...

''. They suck especially immature spore plants in late summer. The males are strong fliers and swarm during the mating season, when they are found also on other plants. The females lay green eggs from May until early June on the host plants, where they are indistinguishable from the similarly colored spores. Nymphs are found primarily in June and July, adult bugs from the end of June to the mating season. In the September/early October, the imagines leave the host plants to overwinter, hibernating as an imago in the dry remains of their host plants on the ground, in the leaf litter or branches of conifers (usually '' Picea abies'').Ekkehard Wachmann, Albert Melber, Jürgen Deckert: ''Wanzen. Band 2: Cimicomorpha: Microphysidae (Flechtenwanzen), Miridae (Weichwanzen)'' (= Die Tierwelt Deutschlands und der angrenzenden Meeresteile nach ihren Merkmalen und nach ihrer Lebensweise. 75. Teil). Goecke & Evers, Keltern 2006, , S. 22.

References

Bugs described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Bryocorini Hemiptera of Europe {{miridae-stub