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Species Heterotoma planicornis

Insect - Heterotoma planicornis Strange antennae on this unknown insect - Heterotoma planicornis Heterotoma planicornis - for verification. - Heterotoma planicornis Heterotoma planicornis? - Heterotoma planicornis Heterotoma planicornis? - Heterotoma planicornis Springtail - Heterotoma planicornis Unknown Insect - Heterotoma planicornis Dig those crazy antennae - Heterotoma planicornis
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 Orthotylinae
Tribe Orthotylini
Genus Heterotoma
Species planicornis (Heterotoma planicornis)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
=merioptera auct. nec Scopoli 1763
discussion here
Explanation of Names
Heterotoma planicornis (Pallas 1772)
Size
4.5-5.5 mm(1)
Identification
Adult: black with green femora and very unusual antennae extending forward from head; pronotum and hemelytra black, sparsely covered with mixture of dark and pale hairs; tibiae yellowish-brown
Range
native to Europe, adventive in our area and established in the east (NS-NC) and in the west (BC-CA-UT)(2)(3)
Habitat
on weeds such as nettle (Urtica) and deadnettle (Lamium spp.) plus various shrubs and trees
Season
adults Jun-Oct, nymphs May-Jun
Food
adults and nymphs prey on aphids and other small insects; also feed on buds and unripe fruit of various plants
Life Cycle
overwinters as an egg; one generation per year
Remarks
may have been inadvertently introduced along with alien plants -- like it was accidentally introduced to New Zealand with Scotch Broom (Cytisus scoparius)(4)
earliest NA record: NY 1915(5)
Internet References
Bantock & Botting (2010)(1)
Works Cited
1.Bantock T., Botting J. (2010‒) British Bugs, an online identification guide to UK Hemiptera
2.Catalog of the Heteroptera, or True Bugs of Canada and the Continental United States
Thomas J. Henry, Richard C. Froeschner. 1988. Brill Academic Publishers.
3.A Synthesis of the Holarctic Miridae (Heteroptera): Distribution, Biology, and Origin, with Emphasis on North America
A. G., Jr. Wheeler & Thomas J. Henry. 1992. Entomological Society of America.
4.Heteroptera of economic importance
Schaefer C.W., Panizzi A.R. (eds). 2000. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 828 pp.
5.Alien true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera) in Canada: composition and adaptations
Scudder G.G.E., Foottit R.G. 2006. Can. Entomol. 138: 24-51.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 28 January, 2007 - 9:57pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 26 October, 2013 - 2:26pm

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