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The nabids are small bugs that are relatively
slender, with the front femora slightly enlarged. Adults
and nymphs are predators of many different types of insects,
including aphids, moth eggs, and small caterpillars, including
corn earworm, European corn borer, imported cabbageworm and some
armyworms. Adults are swift and aggressive, rapidly sucking the
body contents from their prey. Damsel bugs themselves are
attacked by a number of natural enemies, including tachinid
flies, wasps and fungi. The most common damsel bugs are pale
yellow to brown with well developed wings - genus Nabis is
common throughout the United States. I have
never seen one of these bugs with fully developed wings. Cedar
Creek has pictures of
the fully-winged variety. (See
pictures of Nabis spp. here). |
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This image clearly shows the beak, constructed for piercing
and sucking fluids, characteristic of the true bugs,
and the raptorial front
legs of a predator which feeds on many species of
soft-bodied insects.
"She was so ugly, she could have trick-or-treated over the
telephone." -- Larry the Cable Guy
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