''Lygus wagneri'' is a species of plant bug belonging to the family
Miridae
The Miridae are a large and diverse insect family at one time known by the taxonomic synonym Capsidae. Species in the family may be referred to as capsid bugs or "mirid bugs". Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and grass bugs. It is the ...
, subfamily
Mirinae
Mirinae is a subfamily of plant bugs, insects in the family Miridae.
Tribes
* Herdoniini
* Hyalopeplini
* Mecistoscelini
* Mirini
* Restheniini
* Scutelliferini
* Stenodemini
Stenodemini is a tribe of plant bugs in the family Miridae
...
.
Description
''Lygus wagneri'' can reach a length of .
[Commanster]
/ref> These bugs have a golden gray to olive brown coloration, with small reddish areas. Head shows longitudinal dark brown lines between the eyes. The antennae are greyish brown. Scutellum has a W-shaped dark drawing.
This species is extremely similar to ''Lygus pratensis
''Lygus pratensis'' is a species of plant bug belonging to the family Miridae.
Distribution and habitat
This species can be found in most of Europe, in Africa, in Northern Asia (excluding China) and in the Indomalayan realm. These bugs prefer ...
'', although on average it is slightly smaller, with a shorter membrane. The corium is less densely pubescent.
Biology
''Lygus wagneri'' has two generations per year.[ It has an incomplete ]metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
, the transition from newly hatched larvae to the sexually mature insects gradually goes through several stages. It is a polyphagous species, mainly feeding on nectar of ''Tanacetum vulgare
Tansy (''Tanacetum vulgare'') is a perennial, herbaceous flowering plant in the genus ''Tanacetum'' in the aster family, native to temperate Europe and Asia. It has been introduced to other parts of the world, including North America, and in ...
'' and on juices of ''Asteraceae
The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...
'', ''Urtica dioica
''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Ori ...
'', ''Rumex obtusifolius
''Rumex obtusifolius'', commonly known as bitter dock, broad-leaved dock, bluntleaf dock, dock leaf, dockens or butter dock, is a perennial plant in the family Polygonaceae. It is native to Europe, but is found on all temperate continents. It i ...
'', ''Hieracium
''Hieracium'' (),
known by the common name hawkweed and classically as (from ancient Greek ιεράξ, 'hawk'),
is a genus of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and closely related to dandelion (''Taraxacum''), chicory ('' Cichorium'') ...
'' and ''Hypericum
''Hypericum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Hypericaceae (formerly considered a subfamily of Clusiaceae). The genus has a nearly worldwide distribution, missing only from tropical lowlands, deserts and polar regions. Many ''Hype ...
''.[
]
Distribution and habitat
This species is widespread in most of Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.Fauna europaea
/ref> It prefers meadows and open, uncultivated localities.[
]
References
* Coulianos, C.-C. 1998. Annotated Catalogue of the Hemiptera-Heteroptera of Norway. Fauna Norwegia Ser.B 45 (1-2), side 11-39
Lygus
Insects described in 1955
Hemiptera of Europe
{{miridae-stub