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 name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

s include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs. It is the largest family of true bugs (suborder Heteroptera); it includes over 10,000 known species, and new ones are being described constantly. Most widely known mirids are species that are notorious agricultural pests that pierce plant tissues, feed on the sap, and sometimes transmit viral plant diseases. Some species however, are predatory.

Description

Miridae are small, terrestrial insects, usually oval-shaped or elongate and measuring less than in length. Many of them have a hunched look, because of the shape of the prothorax, which carries the head bent down. Some are brightly coloured and attractively patterned, others drab or dark, most being inconspicuous. Some genera are ant

mimic In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. In the simples ...

s at certain stages of life. Miridae do not have any

ocelli A simple eye or ocellus (sometimes called a pigment pit) is a form of eye or an optical arrangement which has a single lens without the sort of elaborate retina that occurs in most vertebrates. These eyes are called "simple" to distinguish the ...

. Their rostrum has four segments. One useful feature in identifying members of the family is the presence of a

cuneus The cuneus (; : cunei) is a smaller lobe in the occipital lobe of the brain. The cuneus is bounded anteriorly by the parieto-occipital sulcus and Inferior (anatomy), inferiorly by the calcarine sulcus. Function The cuneus (Brodmann area 17) r ...

; it is the triangular tip of the corium, the firm, sclerotized part of the forewing, the hemelytron. The cuneus is visible in nearly all Miridae, and only in a few other

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

, notably the family Anthocoridae, which are not much like the Miridae in other ways. The tarsi almost always have three segments.

Some mirid species

* Lygus bugs (''Lygus'' spp.), including the tarnished and western tarnished plant bugs, are serious pests in the

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

, and

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

industries. * '' Stenotus binotatus'', a minor pest of cereal crops, especially

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

* Apple dimpling bug ('' Campylomma liebknechti'') damages

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

blossoms and small growing fruits. * Mosquito bugs '' Helopeltis'' and '' Afropeltis'' spp. – that infest various crops including tea, cacao and

* Honeylocust plant bug (''Diaphnocoris chlorionis'') damages foliage on honeylocust trees. CSIRO ScienceImage 1820 A green mirid Creontiades dilutus

CSIRO ScienceImage 1820 A green mirid Creontiades dilutus

* Green mirid (''Creontiades dilutus'') damages many types of field crops. * Potato capsid (''Closterotomus norwegicus'') is a noted pest of

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

and

clover Clovers, also called trefoils, are plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution with the highest diversit ...

plants in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. * '' Deraeocoris nebulosus'' prefers other insects to plants in its diet, and has been used as a biocontrol agent against

mite Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods) of two large orders, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari. However, most recent genetic analyses do not recover the two as eac ...

s and

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

s. * '' Dicyphus hesperus'' sucks sap from various plants and preys on

whitefly Whiteflies are Hemipterans that typically feed on the undersides of plant leaves. They comprise the family Aleyrodidae, the only family in the superfamily Aleyrodoidea. More than 1550 species have been described. Description and taxonomy The A ...

and red spider mites and can be used in biological pest control.

Systematics

This family includes a large number of

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

, many of which are still unknown, distributed in more than 1,300 genera. The taxonomic tree includes the following subfamilies and numerous tribes: * Bryocorinae ** Bryocorini ** Dicyphini ** Eccritotarsini * Cylapinae ** Cylapini ** Fulviini * Deraeocorinae ** Clivinematini ** Deraeocorini ** Hyaliodini ** Saturniomirini ** Surinamellini ** Termatophylini * Isometopinae ** Diphlebini ** Isometopini * Mirinae ** Herdoniini ** Hyalopeplini ** Mirini ** Pithanini ** Restheniini **

Stenodemini Stenodemini is a tribe of plant bugs in the family Miridae. There are more than 60 described species in Stenodemini. Genera ''BioLib'' includes: # ''Acetropis'' Fieber, 1858 # ''Acomocera'' Eyles, 1975 # ''Actinocoris'' Reuter, 1878 # ''Astelia ...

* Orthotylinae ** Ceratocapsini ** Halticini ** Orthotylini * Phylinae ** Hallodapini ** Leucophoropterini ** Phylini ** Pilophorini

Psallopinae

Auth.: Schuh, 1976 # '' Isometopsallops'' Herczek & Popov, 1992 # '' Psallops'' Usinger, 1946 # †'' Cylapopsallops'' Popov & Herczek, 2006 # †'' Epigonopsallops'' Herczek & Popov, 2009

Genera ''
Incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...
''

''BioLib'' includes: # '' Amulacoris'' Carvalho & China, 1959 # '' Anniessa'' Kirkaldy, 1903 # '' Auchus'' Distant, 1893 # '' Bahiarmiris'' Carvalho, 1977 # '' Brasiliocarnus'' Kerzhner & Schuh, 1995 # '' Carmelinus'' Carvalho & Gomes, 1972 # '' Carmelus'' Drake & Harris, 1932 # '' Chaetophylidea'' Knight, 1968 # '' Charitides'' Kerzhner, 1962 # '' Colimacoris'' Schaffner & Carvalho, 1985 # '' Cylapocerus'' Carvalho & Fontes, 1968 # '' Dimorphocoris'' Reuter, 1890 # '' Duckecylapus'' Carvalho, 1982 # '' Englemania'' Carvalho, 1985 # '' Eurycipitia'' Reuter, 1905 # '' Faliscomiris'' Kerzhner & Schuh, 1998 # '' Fuscus'' Distant, 1884 # '' Guerrerocoris'' Carvalho & China, 1959 # ''Gunhadya'' - monotypic '' Gunhadya rubrofasciata'' Distant, 1920 # '' Heterocoris'' Guérin-Ménéville in Sagra, 1857 # '' Knightocoris'' Carvalho & China, 1951 # '' Leonomiris'' Kerzhner & Schuh, 1998 # '' Macrotyloides'' Van Duzee, 1916 # '' Merinocapsus'' Knight, 1968 # '' Mircarvalhoia'' Kerzhner & Schuh, 1998 # '' Montagneria'' Akingbohungbe, 1978 # '' Muirmiris'' Carvalho, 1983 # '' Myochroocoris'' Reuter, 1909 # '' Nesosylphas'' Kirkaldy, 1908 # '' Notolobus'' Reuter, 1908 # '' Nymannus'' Distant, 1904 # '' Paracoriscus'' Kerzhner & Schuh, 1998 # '' Paraguayna'' Carvalho, 1986 # '' Prodomopsis'' TBD # '' Prodomus'' TBD # '' Pseudobryocoris'' Distant, 1884 # '' Pygophorisca'' Carvalho & Wallerstein, 1978 # '' Rayeria'' TBD # '' Rewafulvia'' Carvalho, 1972 # '' Rhynacloa'' Reuter # '' Rondonisca'' Carvalho & Costa, 1994 # '' Rondonoides'' Carvalho & Costa, 1994 # '' Rondonotylus'' Carvalho & Costa, 1994 # '' Spanogonicus'' Berg # '' Sthenaridia'' TBD # '' Zoilus'' Distant, 1884

References

External links

PBI Plant Bug Index

Link to Al Wheeler's book on the biology of mirids

Research on mirids of Southern California at UC Riverside

on the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

''Featured Creatures'' website {{Authority control Heteroptera families Articles containing video clips Taxa named by Carl Wilhelm Hahn