Miridae

Miridae

[′mir·ə‚dē]

(invertebrate zoology)

The largest family of the Hemiptera; included in the Cimicomorpha, it contains herbivorous and predacious plant bugs which lack ocelli and have a cuneus and four-segmented antennae.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Miridae

 

(leaf bugs), a family of true bugs. Leaf bugs are 3–10 mm long and vary in color from straw-yellow or green to reddish brown or black. Sometimes there are markings: black stripes and dots on a light background or yellow or whitish stripes and dots on a black background. The antennae are usually longer than the head. The proboscis has four segments. The ocelli are wanting, but the wings are usually developed. There is an ovipositor. The leaf bugs are represented by a large number of cosmopolitan species. There are about 700 species in the USSR. The insects are herbivores or, less commonly, carnivores or omnivores. They inhabit herbaceous plants and trees. Crop pests include the alfalfa bug (Adelphocoris lineolatus) and the beet bug (Poeciloscytux cognatus).

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.