TheinsectfamilyNabidae contains thedamsel bugs. There are over 500 species in 20 genera.[1] They are soft-bodied, elongate, winged terrestrial predators. Many damsel bugs catch and hold prey with their forelegs, similar tomantids. They are considered helpful species inagriculture because of their predation on many types of crop pests.[2]
Damsel bugs of the genusNabis are the most common. They and other genera are most numerous in fields oflegumes such asalfalfa, but they can be found in many other crops and in non-cultivated areas. They are yellow to tan in color and have large, bulbous eyes and stiltlike legs. They are generalist predators, catching almost any insect smaller than themselves, and cannibalizing each other when no other food is available. Several species have bitten humans.[3] Members of the subfamilyProstemmatinae reproduce bytraumatic insemination.[4]
Several fossil genera have been attributed to the family, includingKaranabis from the Upper JurassicKarabastau Formation of Kazakhstan, but it has subsequently been assigned to other families. The earliest definitive record of the family isCretanazgul from theCenomanian agedBurmese amber of Myanmar, belonging to the subfamily Prostemmatinae.[4]
^Faúndez, E. I. & M. A. Carvajal. 2014. Contribution to the knowledgment of the Nabis punctipennis Blanchard, 1852 complex (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Nabidae) in Chile.Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, 42(1): 63-69
^Braman, S. K. 2000. Damsel bugs (Nabidae). Pp. 639–656. In: Schaefer C. W. & Panizzi A. R. (eds.): Heteroptera of Economic Importance. CRC Press, Boca Raton.
^Faúndez, E. I. & M. A. Carvajal. 2011. A human case of bitting by Nabis punctipennis (Hemíptera: Heteroptera: Nabidae) in Chile. Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae, 51(2): 407-409.
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