At this time of year I like to check on the progress of pecan flowering. While inspecting pistillate flowers, I always spot numerous plant-feeding Mirids crawling around young nutlets. In the photo at right, note the two, mottled-brown insects on the flower cluster. These are examples of the Mirid,
Plagiognathus caryae. In the photo, they are using their piercing-sucking mouthparts to feed on plant juices.These insects can also be seen feeding on catkins and expanding leaves. Although they look like they could be damaging, we have found that these insects do not cause significant crop losses.
