Genus Myodocha - Long-necked Seed Bugs

Classification · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References

Long-necked Seed Bug nymph - Myodocha serripes

Long-necked Seed Bug - Myodocha serripes

Myodocha serripes Olivier - Myodocha serripes

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Family Rhyparochromidae (Dirt-colored Seed Bugs)

Genus Myodocha (Long-necked Seed Bugs)

Numbers

2 species in North America

7 species worldwide (mostly neotropical)

Size

8-10 mm

Identification

head black, longer than pronotum, basal portion slender and elongated into a "neck"; front femora inflated and bearing ventral spines; legs yellowish except for blackish "knee" joints; antennae long, slender, and four-segmented; hemelytra slender and dark gray with shallow striations and punctures

Range

M. annulicornis confined to Florida

M. serripes widespread: Florida to Texas and north to southern Canada

Habitat

woodlands in winter; fields in spring and summer

Season

woodlands in winter/early spring; fields and artificial lights in summer

Food

seeds of strawberry and st. johnswort, plus other herbaceous plants

Life Cycle

adults overwinter in woodland leaf litter

Internet References

key to Florida species - PDF doc - plus biology and other info (Florida Center for Library Automation)

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 4 October, 2004 - 9:56pm
Last updated 14 July, 2005 - 2:43pm

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