ARS | Publication request: New plant bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) records for West Virginia

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: August 11, 2010
Publication Date: December 16, 2010
Citation: Henry, T.J. 2010. New plant bug (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Miridae) records for West Virginia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 112(4):490-499.

Interpretive Summary: Plant bugs represent the largest family of true bugs. Many, such as lygus bugs, are important crop pests, causing millions of dollars of damage annually in the United States, whereas numerous others are predators of various pests, such as aphids, scale insects, and caterpillars, and thus are of considerable importance in biocontrol programs. This paper provides 32 new plant bug records for West Virginia, increasing the known fauna to 284, based on the study of more than 3,000 specimens from the West Virginia Department of Agriculture and the National Museum of Natural History. Localities, dates, and host plants are provided for each species, along with selected papers providing biological information. This paper will provide researchers, regulatory personnel, and Federal and state departments of agriculture important information on distribution, seasonal occurrence, hosts, and biology of this large and diverse group of economically important bugs.

Technical Abstract: Thirty-two species of Miridae are recorded for the first time from West Virginia. With an additional six species reported in the literature and two subsequent synonymies since the 1983 “Annotated List...” by Wheeler, Mason, and Henry, 284 species of Miridae are now known from the state. The new records include six species in the subfamily Bryocorinae; one, in Cylapinae; two, in Deraeocorinae; twelve, in Mirinae; seven in Orthotylinae; and three, in Phylinae. Locality information, specific dates, associated host data, and number of specimens and sex are given for each species. Names used in the previous 1983 list are updated.