Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > What insect is this? > General/curiosity insects > Insects without obvious wings: less than ½ inch long > Minute pirate bugs

Minute pirate bugs

Anthocoridae family, especially Orius tristicolor, O. insidiosus

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve

John Ruberson, Kansas State University, Bugwood.org

Description: Up to 1/5 inch long.
Black bugs with white markings at the base of the front wings resulting in a band-like appearance across the body when wings are at rest.

Where/When: Found throughout the summer months and into fall on and around garden plants.

Significance: A predator of small insects and mites, they can be an important natural enemy of some pest insects. They sometimes bite people during the fall, but they do not feed on blood or inject any saliva (they are just probing).

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