View allAll Photos Tagged assassinbug
Not a tasty flan, or a Jell-O salad, but a 3-mm. wide cluster of assassin bug eggs (possibly Zelus sp.) in my garden.
Notocyrtus sp. Tentative ID based on www.inaturalist.org images. Found at Rinconcito Lodge, south of Rincón de la Vieja National Park. Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica.
Found trailside vegetation on trail starting from lodge grounds.
Single exposure, moderately cropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-24EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
Poor assassin bug....I found it on my balcony struggling to free itself from spider silk. Was hard to watch actually, it appeared to be a near impossible task. I took it down to the garden, where it continued to groom.
These insects are true bugs with piercing and sucking mouth parts - the proboscis seen clearly here underneath the antennae.
25 mm length
© All rights reserved.
The assassin bug nymph has been lingering on this gerbera daisy for days. This morning he appears to be eyeing his visitor, a brown marmorated stink bug. I think the assassin is too young to do any damage, but I'll be watching.
Anyone remember the movie Starship Troopers? There's not a lot of doubt where they got the inspiration for the brain bugs is there? A Wheel Bug like this one combined with a grub worm would just about do it....
If you ever get the urge to pet one of these, don't do it. They bite. And it hurts, a LOT
Here's a Rhynocoris annulatus assassin bug who has donned its best red and black legwarmers to try and look like Jennifer Beals.
Is it pulling the look off well?
Part 1, more from the front here: www.flickr.com/photos/tinyturtle/50069340921/
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.
Ant assassin bug (Inara flavopicta), nymph with ant carcasses glued to its back for concealment. Sarawak, Malaysia (Borneo).
I think that this will be an assassin bug but am not certain without seeing the snout.
Another insect seen close to the dam we stooped at en route back to Bogota.
I wasn't concerned
When it landed on my arm
Thought it was harmless
Note: Apparently Assassin Bugs can deliver a rather nasty bite, so I got lucky.
Pselliopus sp. Found at Carr Canyon in Huachuca Mountains. Cochise County, Arizona, USA.
Hopefully will get a species name for this beauty. Genus is currently under revision.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-24EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
"The wheel bug (Arilus cristatus) is a species of large assassin bug in the family Reduviidae (literally, "hangnail"). The species is one of the largest terrestrial true bugs in North America, reaching up to 1.5 inches (38 mm) in length in their adult stage. They are sexually dimorphic, in that males are somewhat smaller than the females. A characteristic structure is the wheel-shaped pronotal armor. Wheel bugs prey on caterpillars and beetles, such as Japanese beetles, the cabbage worm, orange dogs, tent caterpillars, and the Mexican bean beetle, all of which they pierce with their beak to inject salivary fluids that dissolve soft tissue. Wheel bugs are most active in daylight, though they may engage in predatory behaviors at night in areas illuminated by lights. Because most of their prey are pests, wheel bugs are considered beneficial."
Found at Finca Las Piedras, near town of Monterrey in Madre de Dios region in southeastern Peru.
It was hanging upside-down from some trailside vegetation.
Single exposure, uncropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-24EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.
(Warning, dying insect.) When walking past some of the white roses something very small and red/orange caught my eye. Immediately knew it was an assassin bug so had to try for a photo. Couldn't get as close as I wanted. Only realized later it had caught a tiny insect of some kind. Sorry if this offends anyone, I find nature, even when not so pretty, very interesting. Shallow DOF and not the sharpest focus but saving for now. Click twice on image to see small insect it has caught.
Macro Mondays: geometry shapes
Flickr Lounge: blurry background (bokeh)
I uploaded earlier images from this sighting, but when I looked at this one I was struck by how many triangles occur in it, as well as the circles in the bokeh background, and decided to upload it as well. The wheelbug is one of the largest true bugs in North America; it can be more than an inch long, with the female generally bigger. Since it preys on pest insects, it is considered a beneficial insect, but like all assassin bugs, it is said to have quite a painful bite (pricking with its beak) if you mishandle it. Sighted on a tree in Southern Indiana.
The pair rushed up this tree pretty quickly while I tried to get good photos before they got too high on the tree. Soon they came upon an insect that the female had seen as potential prey--but I think it was a stinkbug and she tried it and discarded it. Meanwhile they also paused for a few seconds on a spot on the tree that allowed me to put a nice well-lit background behind them and get them in silhouette, which seemed like a better way to show them off since they are so very well camouflaged on this tree.
North American wheel bug nymph, assassin bug, in the family Reduviidae and the only species of wheel bug found in the United States.
This scene shows it climbing on a wood rail in Lake Lotus Park in Central Florida. This tiny bug kept charging after me even though I was 4 ft away; it literally gave me the heeebie jeebies!
#dldillonphotography #insects #wheelbug #assassinbug
#FlickrPhotoChallenge #UpClose #Macro
We were out on our nightly photo walk when my wife brought my attention to this scene.
This large Assassin Bug was feeding on a hardy looking Harvestmen (Opiliones) on an oil palm tree.
It was perched 7 feet high, in an odd angle. 2 to 3 shots and it decided to face away!
Lucky for me, my wife loves the outdoors, the long photo walks, the night walks amidst heavy rain etc. She is a keen observer and frequently finds some crazy things for me. :-D
The Assassin Bug....(Pselliopus barberi)
The strong beak found on Assassin Bugs is used repeatedly, and violently to stab its prey to death, hence the name "Assassin". this insect will also inflict terrible painful bites to careless humans and is best left observed, but not handled.
Apiomerus flaviventris Herrich-Schaeffer, 1846 - Yellow-bellied Bee Assassin. Thanks to v belov for confirming the species ID on bugguide. Found at Madera Canyon in Santa Rita Mountains. Santa Cruz County, Arizona, USA.
Single exposure, moderately cropped, handheld, in situ. Canon MT-24EX flash unit, Ian McConnachie diffuser.