Himacerus (Aptus) mirmicoides (O. Costa, 1834)

Ghahari, Hassan, Linnavuori, Rauno E., Moulet, Pierre & Ostovan, Hadi, 2010, An annotated catalogue of the Iranian Nabidae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 50 (1), pp. 33-44 : 35-36

Himacerus (Aptus) mirmicoides (O. Costa, 1834)

Distribution in Iran. Ardabil ( MODARRES AWAL 1987, 1997), East Azerbaijan ( KERZHNER & RIEGER 1985), Golestan ( KERZHNER 1963, 1981, 1987), Guilan ( KERZHNER 1987, LINNAVUORI & HOSSEINI 2000), Mazandaran ( KERZHNER & RIEGER 1985, KERZHNER 1987, LINNAVUORI & HOSSEINI 2000).

General distribution. European, extending to North Africa and Middle East ( KERZHNER 1996).

Comment. Although larvae, especially early instars, have occasionally been found in ant nests, there is no evidence of a close association between these insects and such co-occurrences are probably accidental. Like all damsel bugs, this species is a predator and has been observed feeding on Plagiognathus arbustorum (Fabricius 1794) (Miridae) , aphids and the eggs of the cabbage white butterfly ( Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758)) ( KERZHNER 1981) .