Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Myodocha serripes Olivier 1811
Synonyms: Myodocha opetilata Say, Myodocha serripes Laporte, Chiroleptes raptor Kirby
Identification
head black, longer than pronotum, basal portion slender and elongated into a "neck"; front femora inflated and bearing ventral spines; legs slender, yellowish with black "knee" joints; antennae four-segmented, basal and terminal segments blackish, middle two segments orangish; hemelytra slender, dark gray with shallow striations and punctures
Range
Florida to Texas and north to southern Canada, west to Colorado, New Mexico
Habitat
overwinters in woodlands, migrating to fields in spring/summer; adults attracted to lights
Season
Leaf litter in early spring; fields and artificial lights in summer
Food
Seeds of strawberry and st. johnswort. Sometimes a pest of strawberries.
Life Cycle
Two generations per year; overwinters as adult in leaf litter or under bark of trees in woodlands
Remarks
The only species of Myodocha north of Mexico and outside of Florida (another species, M. annulicornis, is endemic to Florida).
See Also
Myodocha annulicornis (a Florida endemic) has a pale white ring surrounding the base of its fourth antennal segment, lacking in M. serripes whose fourth antennal segment is uniformly dark
Print References
Slater, p. 82, fig. 142
(1)
Brimley, p. 68, lists for "whole season" in North Carolina.
(2)
Arnett, p. 260, fig. 20.30
(3)Internet References
live adult image (Tom Murray, Massachussets)
live adult image (Phil Myers, U. of Michigan)
key to Florida species - PDF doc plus biology and other info on both North American species (Florida Center for Library Automation)
