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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Cimicomorpha » Miroidea » Plant Bugs (Miridae) » Mirinae » Mirini » Closterotomus » Potato Bug (Closterotomus norvegicus)

Species Closterotomus norvegicus - Potato Bug

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · See Also · Internet References · Works Cited

Hairy Green Mirids (?) on small yellow flowers - Closterotomus norvegicus

Closterotomus - Closterotomus norvegicus

Pollen-eating bug - Closterotomus norvegicus

Closterotomus norvegicus ? - Closterotomus norvegicus

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 Miroidea

Family Miridae (Plant Bugs)

Subfamily Mirinae

Tribe Mirini

Genus Closterotomus

Species norvegicus (Potato Bug)

Other Common Names

Potato Capsid, Strawberry Bug

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

=Calocoris norvegicus Gmelin 1790

Size

6-8 mm

Identification

Adult: mostly green above, with two small black dots on anterior half of pronotum near midline; scutellum with dark marks at base (sometimes lacking); hemelytra of some specimens has reddish-brown tint; membranous portion of forewing fuscous, giving a "dark-tailed" appearance; length of second antennal segment approximately equal to third and fourth combined; spines on hind tibia shorter than width of tibia

Range

native to w. Palaearctic, adventive elsewhere; in our area, e. & w. NA (earliest record: QC 1886)(1)

Habitat

meadows, hedgerows, weedy fields

Season

adults present from May to October in Europe

Food

alfalfa, white clover, and lotus seed crops in New Zealand; a key pest of pistachios in CA; also reported on nettle, poppy, thistle and other Asteraceae

Remarks

earliest NA record: QC, pre-1886(1)

See Also

Alfalfa Plant Bug (Adelphocoris lineolatus) has dark lines down center of scutellum, black spots on pronotum are widely spaced and on posterior half, dark line along inner margin of forewing, and spines on rear tibia are equal to or greater than width of tibia(2)

Internet References

Species pages: by J.K. Lindsey; by britishbugs.org(2)

Works Cited

1.	Alien true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) in Canada: composition and adaptations Scudder G.G.E., Foottit R.G. 2006. Can. Entomol. 138: 24-51.

2.	Bantock T., Botting J. (2010‒) British Bugs, an online identification guide to UK Hemiptera

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 3 November, 2008 - 10:08pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, v belov, onegunah, KenW
Last updated 28 December, 2020 - 7:59am

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