They have tiny, oval-shaped bodies with a white tip at the tail and black near the head and shoulders. Their wings have a black and brown pattern on them.
The nymphs are tear drop-shaped and start off colourless but become a yellow-brown, almost orange colour.
Adults and nymphs both have red eyes. They can easily be mistaken for chinch bugs (family Lygaeidae).
Adult size: 2 .5mm
Out and about
They will be most active at the time other insects are about, emerging in spring. They are more likely to be about during the cooler parts of the day i.e. early morning or late afternoon. On cooler days they may be about all day. There are about 600 species found worldwide. In Australia they are concentrated on the east coast.
Reproduction and Life cycle
Their eggs are very tiny, white or colourless, and hard to find as they are laid singly into plant tissue with only the tip showing.
Mirids lay their eggs the same way, so it is difficult to know which you’ve got until they hatch.
The cycle from egg to adult is only three weeks.
Both adults and nymphs feed on almost any small insect including aphids, mites, scales, white flies, thrips, soft-bodied arthropods and moth eggs by way of the piercing and sucking rostrum.
The adults are also pollen and nectar feeders. The species Orius insidiosus is bred commercially as a biological control of mites and thrips in greenhouses.
