Black May Beetle Eater

bugman

June 15th, 2010 at 6:08 am

Categories

Little bug, big pain!
June 15, 2010
I have lived both in the city and now in the country, so I have had my share of bugs. This guy though is new to me. I have looked all over and I cannot find out what this is. I have only seen two ever, and I have not seen one since the event. My little girl was sitting on the floor and suddenly screamed. This little bug ran from her and she said it bit her. It didn’t actually bite her, but it did sting her. There was a little puncture wound in her had from it. I watched her carefully and no adverse signs ever appeared. The hole was there in her hand for several days. I have been curious ever since as to what exactly this little guy is. I am sorry the pictures aren’t better, but I hope you can tell me what it is. The one thing is the little stinger came out of the back , but it fell off by the time I took the photos.Thank You.
M.Mason
Caroline County, VA

Black May Beetle Eater

Dear M Mason,
Your daughter was bitten by a Bloodsucking Conenose in the genus Triatoma, but the coloration does not match any of the species posted to BugGuide. The portion of the abdomen that shows at the edge of the wings is striped in the Eastern Bloodsucking Conenose, Triatoma sanguisuga, but in your individual, the abdomen is a solid red. The Bloodsucking Conenose bites, and it does not have a stinger. Your bug is missing its head. You can compare your individual to the members of the genus depicted on BugGuide.

Black May Beetle Eater

Update: June 23, 2010
Thanks to Karl’s comment, we now know that this is a Black May Beetle Eater, Melanolestes pincipes, one of the Corsair Assassin Bugs.

I like This

Comments 2

kkroeker wrote:
Unfortunately the head is missing and the front end is a little mashed, but it appears that the front lobe of the pronotum is distinctly longer than the back lobe. Also, the tibia on the first two pairs of legs are expanded. These expansions are spongy suction pads that it uses to grab and hold its prey. These are both features of the Assassin Bug (Reduviidae) subfamily Peiratinae, the Corsairs. I think this is likely an example of a Red-and-black Corsair or Black May Beetle-eater, two common names for what was formerly known as Melanolestes abdominalis. It is now considered a color form of the Black Corsair (M. picipes), the difference being the red on the abdomen. The Bugguide site has photos of a male (http://bugguide.net/node/view/7333/bgimage) and a female (http://bugguide.net/node/view/8145). The females usually have very small and useless wings. And yes, they do have a reputation for biting humans. K
Posted 15 Jun 2010 at 11:33 am ¶
Ken Wolgemuth wrote:
I don’t think this is a Conenose. Kissing Bugs depend on stealth to obtain their blood meals. Their bites are not painful at the outset (although they may cause allergic reactions after some time has passed). To me this resembles a Black Corsair (Melanolestes picipes). See http://bugguide.net/node/view/7332.
Posted 15 Jun 2010 at 9:58 pm ¶