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HEMIPTERA, Nabidae (Costa 1852) -- <Images> & <Juveniles> Description
There
were about 410 described species of Nabidae, or damsel bugs, known by the
year 2011. They range in all regions
of the world, but they are very abundant in the tropics. Diagnostic characters of these
"damsel bugs" are the membrane of the hemielytron that has several
small cells around its margin. They
have enlarged, raptorial front femora.
They are slender in body and ocelli are present; the rostrum
4-segmented; antennae 4-, rarely 5-segmented. Probably all are predators as nymphs and adults on various stages
and groups of phytophagous insects, e.g., aphids, lepidopterous eggs and
young larvae, leafhoppers. They may
be commonly found on low herbaceous vegetation, shrubs and grasses. They may be beneficial in naturally
occurring control. Species in the genus Nabis are very common and
abundant in fields of legumes such as alfalfa, but they can occur in many other
crops and in non-cultivated areas. They are yellowish in color and have
large, bulbous eyes and stiltlike legs. They are generalist predators,
catching almost any insect smaller than themselves, including members of
their own species. They are soft-bodied,
elongated, winged terrestrial predators. Many species grasp onto their prey
with their forelegs, quite like the preying mantids, and the
proboscis is inserted through a cut. Nabidae are beneficial because of their
predation on many types of agricultural pests, such as lepidopterous larvae,
aphids, and lygus bugs.Nabis ferus L., a natural enemy of potato
psyllid, the meadow plant bug and sugar beet leafhopper in North America,
feeds on the larvae of Ascia rapae L. in Europe. Larger caterpillars are attacked only at
the time of the molt. Complete
paralysis quickly follows the penetration of the beak into the prey, and
death occurs within 24 hrs. even without feeding. A key references is Mundinger (1922). = = = = = = = = = = = = References: Please refer to <biology.ref.htm>, [Additional references
may be found at: MELVYL
Library] Blatchley, W. S. 1926. Heteroptera or True
Bugs of Eastern North America, with Special Reference to the Fauna of Indiana
and Florida. Nature Publ. Co.,
Indianapolis, Ind. 1116 p. China, W.
E. & N. C. E. Miller. 1959. Checklist and keys to the families and
subfamilies of the Hemiptera-Heteroptera.
Bull. British Mus. Nat. Hist. Ent. 8(1): 1-45. Miller, N. C. E. 1971. The Biology f the
Heteroptera. E. W. Classey Ltd.,
Hampton Middlesex, England. 206 p. |