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).