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Un encuentro con Apiomerus hirtipes durante una caminata por la ladera detrás de Jacó, a unos 550 m de altitud. Después de más de 10 km de caminata encontré dos individuos en la misma zona, aunque separados entre sÃ.
Esta especie pertenece a la familia Reduviidae y es conocida en español como chinche asesina.
There were several of these tiny critters exploring the garden this morning. Shot at 1:1, with 12 mm extension tube.
Zelus longipes, I think.
Hemipteran bug of orange/red colour with black wings. There are a number of tubercles on the pronotum.
15 mm body length
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Found this assassin bug in one of our daylilies between rain showers and storms, had to grab a few photos, all handheld. Some not quite in perfect focus but it's not likely I will see it again. I've seen assassin bugs in the past but never this variety. No ID so far, over 150 varieties. They use that curved, pointed proboscis to stab and inject toxin to kill their prey, thus their name. They then used it to suck out the inside. They will use it to defend themselves, as well, which can be painful to human.
Glad these aren't our size! :-) Would make a great horror film monster.
Zelus luridus, on the leaf of a butterfly weed in the garden. I guess those are rudimentary wings growing in. It's been lingering in the same area, and I'll keep an eye on it - maybe I can catch an assassination.
This one found itself one of the Barbara's buttons flowers. These have emerged in the fields, and they're great places to look for critters to shoot...
A spectacular sycamore assassin bug nymph that I photographed at Conowingo Dam in Maryland on 10/7/25.
Canon 90D, Canon MPE 65mm macro lens, Canon twin macro flash, aperture f/11, shutter speed 1/250, ISO 400
A top view of a Pale Green Assassin Bug nymph. Photographed at Lake Waterford Park in Maryland on 10/1/22.
Spotted in the hibiscus.
"...Zelus longipes has a diabolically clever strategy for catching its prey. Hiding in foliage with its forelegs outstretched, it awaits the approach of an unsuspecting victim. The front legs of this assassin bug are coated with sticky goo (a technical term) perfect for snaring a victim. Once captured, the prey is impaled with a hungry beak that injects proteolytic enzymes, which predigest the contents of the victim. Once that is accomplished, the liquefied contents of the prey are sucked into the digestive tract of the assassin bug with the aid of a tiny muscular pump in the assassin bug’s head."
bugoftheweek.com/blog/2017/10/24/bugs-in-orange-and-black...
Gomphocarpus physocarpus is an upright, soft shrub 0.5 to 2 m tall with a fibrous rootstock. Branches arise above a small, single-stemmed trunk. The branches are pale yellowish green and hollow. The leaves are light green, opposite, and narrowly oblong to lance-shaped. Cream to white flowers in pendulous clusters are borne almost throughout the year but mainly during summer (November to April). The flowers are attractive and have a complicated structure. The petals bend strongly backwards, arching over the flower. In the center of the flower is the corona, consisting of five pouched lobes that develop from the petals. The petals are white and the corona is suffused with pink or purple.
The corona surrounds the male (stamens) and female (carpels composed of ovary, style & stigma) structures. The filaments of the stamens are fused to form a staminal column which encloses the female part. The female part consists of two free carpels, the tips of which are united and enlarged to form the style head. This is the yellowish, 5-lobed disc that can be seen at the center of the flower. The anthers are fused to the style head. The pollen grains of each anther lobe are united to form two waxy masses known as pollinia or pollen sacs. Flowers are followed by large spherical inflated fruits covered with soft spines, splitting to release many seeds, each with a tuft of long silky hairs attached at one end to make them fly. And replant.
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Miami FL
Remember that dastardly duo I shared with you guys on Monday? Well, an hour and eight minutes later, I was returning up the path and happened to spot this fly - and then realized the scene before me.
What!!
Were they sharing?!
I don't know the story here. Did one of them snag the fly, but the other, on the other side of the fly, only see the fly and go for it, too, not realizing it had already fallen prey?
If they know the other is there, do they care?
If the spider injected venom into the fly, is the ambush bug in trouble?
Such a mystery!
21 Arachtober 2016, 1 of 2
Jagged Ambush Bug, Phymata sp.
and
Northern Crab Spider, Mecaphesa asperata
with
Common Green Bottle Fly, Lucilia sericata
Julie J. Metz Wetlands Bank, Woodbridge, VA