Our knowledge of the mirid fauna of eastern Texas is seriously impaired due to a deficiency in collection effort there. We were a little late in the year for optimum mirid collecting. The majority of mirid species have complete their lifecycles by late spring. However, the combined efforts of all of the participants at entoblitz resulted in the collection of 18 mirid species from three sites. Collecting methods consisted of beating, sweeping and light trapping. Only two species out of 18 were collected at lights that were not also collected by beating and sweeping during the daytime. It is interesting to note that although 10 species were taken from at Godwin Woods and the Sparta Sand outcrop only 4 of these were taken at both sites. This may be due to the distinctly different plant communities at the two localities.
(Top) A representative mirid, Phytocorus spp. (Bottom) Dr. Joseph Schaffner sweeping for mirids.
Dr. Schaffner has provided three lists of taxa from the different ENTOBLITZ localities. These lists will become the nucleus of Hemiptera and Homoptera checklists for the areas.
Miridae collected at Godwin Woods
| Taxon | Habits |
|---|---|
| Phytocoris spp. | predator |
| Reuteroscopus schaffneri Knight | Cnidoscolus (bull nettle: Euphorbiaceae) |
| Prepops fraternus (Knight) | ? |
| Taedia johnstoni (Knight) | Xanthoxylum (tickletongue: Rutaceae) |
| Criocorus saliens (Reuter) | Gallium spp.(bedstraw: Rubiaceae) |
| Plagiognathus spp. | ? |
| Lopidia spp. | ? |
| Polymerus basalis (Reuter) | generalist phytophage |
| Americodema spp. | Quercus (oak: Fagaceae) |
| undetermined genus spp. | Pinus echinata (short leaf pine: Pinaceae) |
Miridae & Tingidae collected at Little Sandy NWR
| Taxon | Habits |
|---|---|
| Tropidosteptes tricolor Van Duzee | Fraxinus (ash: Oleaceae) |
| Plagiognathus spp. | ? |
| Prepops fraternus (Knight) | ? |
Miridae and Tingidae collected at Sparta Sand Outcrop
| Mirid Taxon | Habits |
|---|---|
| Slaterocoris spp. | Compositae |
| Phytocoris spp. 1 | predator |
| Phytocoris spp. 2 | predator |
| Phytocoris spp. 3 | predator |
| Phytocoris spp. 4 | predator |
| Polymerus basalis (Reuter) | generalist |
| Plagiognathus spp. | ? |
| Plagiognathus spp. | ? |
| Prepops fraternus (Knight) | ? |
| Americodema spp. | Quercus (oak: Fagaceae) |
| Tingid Taxa | Habits |
| Leptopharsa spp. | Baptesia (false indigo: Fabaceae) |