Small World Discoveries

HEMIPTERA > HETEROPTERA > CIMICOMORPHA > Miridae > Mirini

The large Mirini tribe includes over 50 species in 26 genera. They are a variable group, mostly elongate-oval in shape and often with strong markings on the upper surface. For convenience, I've split this tribe into two sets, with this first set featuring some of the predominantly green-coloured bugs.

The Potato Capsid [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.

The Common Green Capsid [Lygocoris pabulinus] is a very common bug throughout the UK, found 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.

Another common and widespread grassland species is the Two-spotted Grass Bug [Stenotus binotatus] also known as the Timothy Grassbug. It favours 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.

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.