Minute pirate bug adult and nymph

Minute Pirate Bug Adult and Aphid Prey

Minute Pirate Bug Nymph and Aphid Prey

© 2000.  Ralph E. Berry, Department of Entomology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

Adults and nymphs of minute pirate bug, Orius tristicolor (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae), are active predators that feed by sucking the body fluid from prey. Both stages are predators on aphids, spider mites, thrips, insect eggs, and immature stages of many small insects. Adults are about 3 mm long and conspicuously marked with black and white. Nymphs are smaller than adults and are yellow or amber colored. Adults and nymphs are present in fields from April through October.

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