Small World Discoveries

HEMIPTERA > HETEROPTERA > CIMICOMORPHA > Miridae > Deraeocorini

Miridae is a large family of typically delicate-looking, mostly plant-feeding bugs, with around 240 listed species in close on 100 genera that are taxonomically separated into ten tribes. The 'British Bugs' website currently includes brief details and photos of 170 selected species so, unfortunately, there are a lot that aren't covered. Consequently, there's no easy way that I can find to place all of the listed species into their respective tribes, which means that some of the information I've included regarding the numbers in each tribe might be slightly out.

I originally assumed that the 70 or so species that weren't covered by 'British Bugs' were either very localised and scarce, rare or questionable, but that's not necessarily the case as I now know that, for whatever reason, there are quite a number of plant bugs that the authors simply never got round to including.

Although my current collection is small with just under thirty species, I've separated them into tribes, which at present are Deraeocorini, Dicyphini, Mirini, Stenodemini, Orthotylini and Phylini in the same classification sequence as that used on the 'British Bugs' website. The large Mirini tribe is further subdivided into convenient groups, which results in the Miridae family now being spread across eight pages.

For reference, the four small tribes that I'm not able to represent at present, together with the number of species that 'British Bugs' includes, are Bryocorini (2), Halticini (4), Pilophorini (4) and Hallodapini (2).  

The Deraeocorini tribe includes six small to medium-sized bugs, which have a shiny, heavily punctured, oval-shaped body with a comparatively small head and prominent eyes, and pronotum with a rounded collar.  

Deraeocoris ruber is the most frequently recorded member of the family; an attractive, 6-8mm long species that can vary in colour from red-orange to almost black, although the cuneus (the wedge-shaped section at the apex of the thickened part of the forewings) is always red-orange to some extent, which gives rise to the occasionally used common name of Red-spotted Plant Bug. Typical habitat is grassland, parkland and gardens. The species is predatory on small insects.

Deraeocoris lutescens is a small, 4mm, generally orange-brown species with dark markings and translucent forewings. There are usually two dark bars on the otherwise pale scutellum. The NBN Atlas shows scattered records across the Midlands, East Anglia and the South East, but very few across the South and none in the South West. However, the 'British Bugs' site says it's very common occurring right across southern Britain. It can be found on a variety of plants, but favours deciduous trees, particularly Oak.

Deraeocoris flavilinea is a vagrant species that has rapidly colonised the central and southern parts of the country since its arrival in 1996. It's a sexually dimorphic and variable bug with darker males and more orange females. Distinguishing features include narrow pale front and rear margins of the pronotum, and similar pale edges of the scutellum. The colour of the cuneus is typically red-orange much the same as Deraeocoris ruber, but is variable. The brick-red tibial banding is shared by the larger and far less common Deraeocoris olivaceus, however that species can be distinguished by having long hairs on the side of the pronotum. it is also primarily associated with Hawthorn, whereas Deraeocoris flavilinea is more likely to be found on shrubs and trees, particularly Sycamore and Field Maple. Obviously, the features noted above are not evident in the nymph but, given that I found it in our garden, I hope to feature a photo of an adult before too long.

Although generally scarce and infrequently recorded there are two other species in the genus that could possibly be encountered. The most likely is Deraeocoris olivaeus, a large 8-10mm brick-red species that is strongly associated with mature heavily-fruiting hawthorns in open situations. The other is Deraeocoris scutellaris, which is plain black, and a species that I think could easily be overlooked. It's also associated with hawthorn as well as hazel, particularly on heathland or chalk downland.

The remaining species is Alloeotomus gothicus, which is an attractive and distinctive, 5-6mm, orange-brown plant bug that occurs on Scots Pine. It's never been officially recorded from Dorset and, according to the NBN Atlas, has only been sighted a couple of times in Hampshire in recent years so, although very unlikely, it's one to look out for on the rare occasions that I'm in an area where there are Scots Pine.

Updated, Feb.25 (v.3)