COMMON NAME

Mirid bugs-general

Order

Suborder

Family

Genus

Species

Alias

Hemiptera

Heteroptera

Miridae

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Description

Not all mirid bugs are bad, although some can be a pest as well as a predator. Beneficial mirid bugs tend to be smaller than the pest species. NB the nymphs of mirid bugs look very much like aphids but they don’t have the two tube-like projections (cornicles) from the rear of the abdomen.

Adult size: 4.5 - 8 mm

Out and about

Mirids start to emerge at the end of winter as the weather starts to warm up. There are over 10,000 species known worldwide. They are widespread throughout Australia.

Reproduction and Life cycle

The female lays tiny (0.9mm), pale yellow eggs singly, usually into leaf tissue with just the tip of the egg protruding slightly. The cycle from egg to adult can be as quick as 3 weeks in ideal, warm conditions although numbers appear to reduce if it remains hot for a few days or if there is heavy rain or storms. Eggs can remain unhatched over winter and adults can spend winter sheltering in weeds.

To deter

To control

Spray with: - pyrethrum - neem- early morning or late evening Keep weeds down, especially during winter

Plants to repel

Plants to attract

Predators

Big-eyed bug / Damsel bugs / Predatory shield bug

Why they are both Beneficial & Pest

Pest species They feed and breed on a wide range of plants, including sunflowers and legumes, causing distortion of leaves, flowers, buds and fruit. Pest species include green mirid (Creontiades dilutus), brown mirid (Creontiades pacificus) and crop mirid (Sidnia kinbergi). Beneficial species The adults and nymphs prey on small caterpillars and eggs, adults and eggs of spider mites, leaf- and plant-hoppers and other mirid bugs. Beneficial species include brown smudge bug (Deraeocoris signatus), black-headed mirid bug (Tytthus). Some species are both good and bad, feeding on plants as well as other insects: apple dimpling bug (Campylomma liebknechti) and brokenbacked bug (Taylorilygus apicalis).

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