ag00007_.gif (7458 bytes)

 

Insect Website Title

Hemiptera (Beneficial Predators):


Ambush Bug: Family Phymatidae Ambush Bug

Size is 1/4" - 1/2" (6 - 12 mm) long. They have thick front legs that are strong for holding prey. Their color and pattern matches the flowers they wait on for their prey so they are hard to spot. They feed mostly on wasps and flies. They paralyze their victims with poisonous saliva. 


Assassin Bug: Family Reduviidae Assassin Bug

Are usually black or brown but many are brightly colored. They are about 1/2" - 1" (12 - 25 mm) long. The head is long with a short, curved beak. Nymphs resemble adults but are smaller. All are predaceous and attack a wide variety of insects. They bite. Wheel bugs are a type of assassin bug which has a semicircular crest on the thorax. They are 1-1/8" to 1-3/8" (28 - 35 mm) long and their nymphs are blood red with black markings.


Big-eyed bug: Family Lygaeidae Big-Eyed Bug

The adults have large kidney-shaped, red-brown eyes. The big-eyed bug (Geocoris spp.) adults are about 3/16" (1 mm) in length and are grey to brown in color. Nymphs are grey with the same shape as adults but are lighter with irregular patterns of spots on their back. Several generations occur each summer and they overwinter as adults. They feed on aphids, eggs, small nymphs and young larvae of several pests. 


Damsel Bug: Family Nabidae Damsel Bug 

Adults are slender, grey or tan insect predators. Size is about 3/8" (10 mm) long. They lay their eggs in plant tissue and the nymphs hatch and feed with the adults on aphids and lygus bugs and many others. They produce up to 4 generations each year. The adults overwinter in weeds, grain or alfalfa fields. 


Minute Pirate Bug: Family AnthocoridaeMinute Pirate Bug

They are black with white markings. They are predaceous on small insects and eggs including one attacks the larvae of the corn earworm.


 Spined Soldier Bug (Podisus spp.): Family PentatomidaeSpined Soldier Bug

 Size is 3/8" - 1/2" (10 -12 mm) in length. Shield shaped, pale brown to yellowish tan and peppered with minute black spots. Common in gardens and fields and in wild. Female lays up to 40 clusters of metallic bronze eggs which contain 20 - 30 eggs. Nymphs initially stay together and may feed on leaf juice but after first molt they become predators of caterpillars, sawfly larvae, grubs of leaf beetles and other insects.


 

Two Spotted Stink Bug: Family Pentatomidae 2 Spotted Stink Bug

The two-spotted stink bug (Perillus bioculatus) is typically black with red markings on the back. Sometimes a yellow or black form is found. Size of adult is 3/8" (10 mm). They feed on caterpillar and beetle larvae and are important predators of Colorado potato beetle larvae. One bug may destroy up to 200 Colorado potato beetle larvae in their lifetime.


Last edited: 11/22/98 10:57 PM

 

Disclaimer:

The help provided by the author of this site is the best scientific based information, about which he is aware, but gardening is not an exact science due to the many unpredictable elements involved so the results can not be guaranteed. E-mail feedback is therefor invited to keep the author aware of successes and failures. Also let me know if you are the author of anything that appears to be illegally incorporated in violation of your copyrights.