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It sounds like a helicopter!!
Hello!!! and thank you again for being such a great resource for identification of all things buggy! I’ve turned to you in the past when I’ve had a critter I just couldn’t name, and now, I come to you again. I have searched through your archives of Beetles 2004, 2005 and current. I’ve also looked at assasin bugs and “true” bugs, but I haven’t been able to find anything that closely matches my “beast”. Attached are two not so great photos of this 1 inch long, black, flat creature. The segmented burgundy-colored antennae add another inch to the total body length. The back (torso) is completely flat, but he seems to have a nasty hunchback. He (or she) has a probiscus which it carries curled under it’s teenytiny little head. The back legs are hefty but slightly flattened. When it flies it sounds like a powerful propellor engine. Could you help me identify it? Thank you so much!
Sharon Israel
Memphis, TN

Hi Sharon,
You needed to check the True Bugs page for this one. This is one of the Coreid Bugs or Big Legged Bugs or Leaf Footed Bugs. More specifically, it is in the genus Acanthocephala.

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