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Family Anthocoridae - Minute Pirate Bugs

Minute Pirate Bug - Orius insidiosus Minute Pirate Bug - Amphiareus obscuriceps Minute Pirate Bug? - Anthocoris tomentosus Red bug nymph Anthocoridae, Minute Pirate Bug, nymph, feeding on a larva in a fungus SBBG-SCL-TIC_000236 - Orius tristicolor Cyprus Picnic Bug Tiny red nymph at insect hotel
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Infraorder Cimicomorpha
Superfamily Cimicoidea
Family Anthocoridae (Minute Pirate Bugs)
Other Common Names
Flower Bugs(1)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
formerly treated to include Lasiochilidae and Lyctocoridae (e.g., in(2))
Explanation of Names
Anthocoridae Fieber 1837
Numbers
~90 spp. in 22-23 genera in our area(2), >500 spp. in >70 genera total
Overview of our fauna
* –taxa not yet in the guide (linked to off-BG images) | classification adapted from(3) by Steven Paiero
Family Anthocoridae (subfamilies not currently used)
Identification
Key to genera in(4); keys to spp. of Canada & AK in(5)
Range
worldwide; most diverse in the tropics and the Holarctic Region(1)
Habitat
many are common on flowers and trees, some live under bark or in mammal/bird nests(2)
Food
small arthropods
Remarks
Some species are used as biocontrol agents. Some are known for their irritating bites and may be a nuisance if landed on one's bare skin.
Print References
(6)
Works Cited
1.Australian Faunal Directory
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera:Heteroptera): Classification and Natural History
Randall T. Schuh & James Alexander Slater. 1995. 1995. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
4.Keys to genera of Anthocoridae of America north of Mexico, with descriptions of a new genus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera)
J.L. Herring. 1976. The Florida Entomologist, 59 (2): 143-150.
5.The Insects and Arachnids of Canada Part 4: The Anthocoridae of Canada and Alaska
Leonard A. Kelton. 1978. Supply and Services Canada.
6.Encyclopedia of Entomology, 2nd ed
Capinera J.L., ed. 2008. Springer, lxiii+4346 pp. (4 vols.).