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This was another interesting yard bug that I found when I tagged along whilst Pam watered for her friend. There were several of the adults, as well as quite a few much smaller nymphs, on the leaves of an ornamental maple. I was by no means certain that the nymphs and the adults were the same species, but their close proximity made it seem possible. I couldn’t find anything close in Pacific Northwest Insects, so I plugged a photo into my Seek app and it called it Campyloneura virgula. And when I went to BugGuide to see if that looked right (which it did) I also found nymph pictures that were dead ringers for what I’d found. But I still wasn’t convinced until I found a paper (Henry; 2012) talking about the first eastern North American records for this species, which described it to a T, and said nothing else had that set of characteristics. I apologize for the poor quality of many of these photos. Besides inevitable pilot error, I believe the translucent hemelytra confused the focus sensor in my TG6.
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This little Miridae (plant bugs) is a good, albeit non-native, friend to arborists and gardeners, since both nymphs and adults prey on aphids, mites, and barklice. But since I’m neither of those things, what I found most fascinating is that these bugs are parthenogenic, and produce females almost exclusively in North America and Europe (some populations in North Africa have a 1male/2 female ratio and apparently reproduce, at least in part, sexually). This doesn’t appear to be a Wolbachia infestation like the one governing parthenogenesis in the woodlouse Oniscus asellus, but instead it’s just a matter of egg cells dividing and growing by mitosis rather than meiosis, with no need of fertilization. I wonder if Ray Trout could make them a really tiny T-shirt saying ‘a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle’.
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Description-Small (4-5mm) true bug with a black head, red, banded antennae, a pale or white collar, clear hemelytra, an orange band at the front of the pronotum, a yellow scutellum, a yellow cuneus, a pair of brown spots near the tip of the greenish yellow abdomen, and pale yellow legs; nymphs are yellow, with a red mark on the side of the pronotum, dark eyes, and black and white banded antennae.
Similar species– No other Miridae in North America has this combination of characteristics
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Habitat– Moist to mesic forests and woodlands, and trees urban/suburban areas, mostly at low elevations; known to be found on maples, alders, holly, scotch broom, hazelnuts, apples, and nettles, amongst others.
Range-Native to Europe and North Africa, and adventive (introduced but not fully naturalized) on the east and west coasts of North America; thus far only found west of the Cascades and in sw Oregon and nw California in our region.
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Eats-Adults and nymphs feed on aphids, mites, barklice, and other tiny invertebrates
Eaten by-Probably insectivores of all classes
Adults active-May to October
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Life cycle-Primarily parthenogenic, and males are rare; overwinters as eggs or adults, but not as nymphs.
Etymology of names–Campyloneura would appear to be from a combination of the Greek word for ‘bent/curved’, and the Latin word for ‘sinew/tendon/nerve’, but I cannot ascertain what curved sinew this references. The specific epithet virgula seems likely to be from the Latin word for ‘small twig/sprout’, but again I can’t find corroboration, or what it may reference.
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https://bugguide.net/node/view/235289
https://www.jungledragon.com/specie/13135/campyloneura_virgula.html
https://www.britishbugs.org.uk/heteroptera/Miridae/campyloneura_virgula.html
Oniscus asellus – 10,000 Things of the Pacific Northwest
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Fascinating research findings! Thank you
Thanks for your appreciation!