Phytocoris populi

Phytocoris populi is a species of plant bugs belonging to the family Miridae, subfamily Mirinae.[1] It is widespread in Europe but absent from Albania, Andorra, Azores, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Faroe Islands and Iceland.[2] then across the Palearctic to the Russian Far East and Siberia.

Phytocoris populi
Phytocoris populi depicted in Edward Saunders Hemiptera Heteroptera of the British Islands (figure 7)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hemiptera
Suborder:	Heteroptera
Family:	Miridae
Genus:	Phytocoris
Species:	P. populi
Binomial name
Phytocoris populi (Linnaeus, 1758)

Phytocoris populi lives on various deciduous trees, especially on poplars ( Populus ) and willows (Salix ), more rarely on linden trees ( Tilia ), birches ( Betula ), alders ( Alnus ), ash trees ( Fraxinus ) or fruit trees. Both the nymphs and the imagines sit during the day predominantly in cracks of the bark on the trunk of the host plants. They feed predominantly as predators on aphids , psyllids, Psocoptera and other small invertebrates that live on the trunk of the plants. The adult bugs can be observed from July to September. They are very active in flight.

References

1. Kerzhner I. M.; Josifov M. (1999). "Family Miridae". In Aukema, Berend; Rieger, Christian (eds.). Catalogue of the Heteroptera of the Palaearctic Region. 3, Cimicomorpha II. Amsterdam: Netherlands Entomological Society. pp. 1–577, pages 156–160. ISBN 978-90-71912-19-1.
2. "Phytocoris (Phytocoris) populi (Linnaeus, 1758)". 2.6.2. Fauna Europaea. August 29, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2013.