Small World Discoveries

HEMIPTERA > HETEROPTERA > CIMICOMORPHA > Miridae > Mirini

The large Mirini tribe includes over 60 species in 26 or more genera. They are a variable group, mostly elongate-oval in shape and often with strong markings on the upper surface. For convenience, I've had to split this tribe into three sets, with this first set featuring some of the predominantly 'green-coloured bugs'.

Closterotomus norwegicus is a common and widespread species found in a variety of grassland habitats and hedgerows where it feeds on a range of plants especially nettles, composites and clovers. It's a 6-8mm, pale green bug, typically but not always with a pair of black spots on the pronotum, forewings green or suffused with brown. The scutellum is plain or with dark markings. Mature males are tinged red-brown. The tibial spines are shorter than the width of the tibia, and the length of the 2nd antennal segment is roughly equal to the 3rd and 4th combined. Away from more natural habitats, this species is regarded as a minor pest of potatoes, carrots and chrysanthemums, which has led to the unofficial common name of Potato Capsid.

Lygocoris pabulinus, officially known as the Common Green Capsid, can be found throughout the UK, typically feeding on a range of woody and herbaceous plants, particularly nettles. The whole of the upper surface of the body is uniformly green and, certainly in the adults, the pronotum is smooth and rather straight-sided. It can be distinguished from similar green bugs by the very fine and inconspicuous pale brown tibial spines.

Apolygus spinolae occurs in much the same type of habitat, also favouring nettles, as well as plants such as creeping thistle, bog myrtle and particularly bramble, whereas the similar Apolygus lucorum is more likely to be seen on mugwort. Although resembling each other, these two closely related green bugs can be distinguished without too much difficulty as Apolygus spinolae has a lighter, almost translucent, pale green background colour compared with Apolygus lucorum, which is typically darker, and with the cuneus (the wedge-shaped section at the apex of the thickened part of the forewings) black at the extreme tips rather than being entirely green as in Apolygus lucorum.

The Orthops genus contains three small (<5 mm), rather similar grass bugs, which are often found on umbellifers. Some specimens require detailed examination to determine the species, but fortunately Orthops campestris is the easiest of the three as it is typically green or green-tinged, whereas the other two have different colouration. It's also the smallest and most oval, and can usually be determined by the short antennae with a 3rd segment that is much shorter than the head width. The main food plant is Wild Parsley.

The final species that I've included in this set of 'green-coloured bugs' is Stenotus binotatus, which can be found in various dry grassland habitats where both the nymphs and adults feed on the flowering heads of grasses. Stenotus binotatus is a distinctive, but variable sexually dimorphic bug, around 6-7mm long and roughly parallel-sided in shape. The females are greenish-yellow with subtle darker markings, whereas the male is usually more yellow with much darker and more extensive markings on both the pronotum and forewings. The markings in both sexes become more deeply pronounced with age. It's one of a number of mirid plant bugs that I've seen referred to my more than one common name, in this case the Two-spotted Plant Bug, Two-spotted Grassbug and Timothy Grassbug.

Updated, Feb.25 (v.2)