Orius (Orius) niger Wolff, 1811

Jerinic-Prodanovic, Dusanka & Protic, Ljiljana, 2013, True bugs (Hemiptera, Heteroptera) as psyllid predators (Hemiptera, Psylloidea), ZooKeys 319, pp. 169-189 : 175-176

7) Orius (Orius) niger Wolff, 1811

Trophic status.

Zoophagous.

Distribution.

Palaearctic.

Preys.

Cacopsylla bidens , from Pyrus communis , Ilinci, 13.X.2008, collected 1♂. Cacopsylla melanoneura , from Malus domestica , Lipovača, 29.IV.2006, collected 1♂. Cacopsylla pyri , from Pyrus communis , Radmilovac, 26.VI.2006, reared 1♂ 'ex larva' 30.VI.2006; 10.VII.2006, reared 1♀ 'ex larva' 20.VII.2006. Craspedolepta sp., from Artemisia vulgaris , Sutjeska, 2.X.2009, reared 1♂ and 4♀♀. Psyllopsis fraxinicola , from Fraxinus ornus , Vrujci, 30.VI.2009, collected 1 specimen. Livia junci (Schrank, 1789), from Juncus bulbosus , Beograd–Block 45, 10.VIII.2005, reared 1♂ 'ex larva' 16.VIII.2005. Trichochermes walkeri (Foerster, 1848), from Rhamnus cathartica , Ilinci, 14.IX.2008, 2♂♂, 2♀♀. Trioza chenopodii Reuter, 1876, from Atriplex tatarica , Ilinci, 20.VIII.2006, 1♂ 'ex larva' 23.VIII.2006. Trioza urticae , from Urtica dioica , Bački breg, 7.VI.2005, reared 1♂; Ilinci, 14.V.2005, reared 1♂, 1♀ 'ex larva' 27.V.2005; Luka, 25.V.2007, reared 1♂.

Orius niger is widespread in Western Palaearctic, very rare in the Mediterranean region, also reported from China. It is a very polyphagous species, preying on aphids, psyllids, whiteflies, thrips, larvae of noctuids, mites ( Péricart 1972, Herard 1986, Protić 1993).

In south France, Herard (1986) determined Orius niger on pears as a predator of Cacopsylla pyri , but also collected it in a large number from Trioza urticae from nettle, which was surrounding the pear orchards. In Croatia, Orius niger was determined along with Orius minutus on Panonychus ulmi in an apple orchard ( Arčanin and Balarin 1972).

In Serbia, Grbić et al. (1989), investigating pear psyllid predators, reported Orius spp., so we are not able to compare our results with theirs. In the same paper, authors mentioned the presence of other Orius species frequently during summer and autumn which is in accordance with our investigations.