Acholla multispinosa (DeG.), an enemy of the pine webworm; 
(c) Zelus exsanguis Stal., an enemy of the gypsy moth; and 
(d) Melanolestes picipes (H.-S.), an enemy of May beetles and 
their larvae. Readio (611) discussed the biologies of members of 
the family. 
FAMILY NABIDAE 
DAMSEL BUGS 
Damsel bugs appear to be entirely predatory on soft-bodied 
plant feeding insects. Adults are usually pale brown to straw- 
colored and about 8 mm. long. The forelegs are quite slender and 
fitted for grasping, having the tibiae armed with minute spines 
and the femora enlarged. Nabis sordidus Reuter is a common 
species in eastern forests. It often occurs in large numbers on 
rank undergrowth. 
FAMILY ANTHOCORIDAE 
FLOWER BUGS 
The majority, if not all, members of this family of small bugs 
are predaceous on other insects. The adults may be found on 
flowers, under loose bark, in leaf litter, or in decaying fungi. 
Anthocoris musculus (Say) (=borealis Dallas) feeds on soft- 
bodied, leaf-feeding insects, principally lace bugs, on deciduous 
trees in the Northern States. Elatophilus inimica (Drake & 
Harris) feeds on the red-pine scale in Connecticut; it has also 
been found on pines infested with the pine twig gall scale in Mas- 
sachusetts. The majority of flower bugs are black with white 
markings and are only about 3 to 5 mm. long. Orius insidiosus 
(Say) is a common predator of insect eggs. 
FAMILY MIRIDAE 
THE PLANT BUGS 
This is the largest family in the order Hemiptera, with about 
1600 species occurring in the United States and Canada alone 
(424). The majority of species appear to be phytophagous. Many 
others are predaceous and feed on a wide variety of young and/or 
soft-bodied insects. The adults are 2 to 9 mm. long, and are usu- 
ally fragile. The antennae and beak are each four-segmented, with 
the second segment of the beak longer than the head. The tarsi 
are usually three-segmented. The hemelytra, when fully developed, 
are separated into a clavus, corium, cuneus, and membrane. In 
some species, the hemelytra are abbreviated and the membrane is 
either absent or reduced to a narrow band. 
The oaks, ashes, hickories, and birches serve as hosts for many 
species. Tropidosteptes amoenus Reuter [= Neoborus amoenus 
Reuter] has caused noticeable injury to ash seedlings in nurseries 
in the Lake States; the tarnished plant bug, Lygus lineolaris (P. de 
B.), is often injurious to ornamentals and to forest nursery trees. 
Young, succulent growth of elm is frequently damaged by the 
feeding of Neolygus invitus (Say). 
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