Bizarre yellow bug with red eyes!
September 14, 2009
We found this little guy/gal (1/4 or 1/8 of an inch long) on some flowers in the yard. I have never seen anything like it before in my life. Does anyone know what the heck this thing is?
Nessa
SW Missouri
Ambush Bug
Hi Nessa,
This is a predatory Assassin Bug known as an Ambush Bug. Not too long ago, Ambush Bugs were classified in their own family, but they have recently been downgraded to the subfamily Phymatinae of the Assassin Bug family Reduviidae. True to their name, the camouflaged Ambush Bugs will wait on flowers until a pollinating insect arrives to feed.
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Posted 15 September 2009
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13mm, green, armored tank/assassin bug-like body, with mantid forelimbs and a turtle head.
August 26, 2009
Hello again Bugman!,
Love your site.
I was looking over a stand of ragweed today, admiring all the activity, when I noticed there was a dead fly on one flowerheads, so I began looking deeper, in between the flowers, for a crab spider or something like that…and found this instead. It was scrunched down between flowertops as if lying in ambush. When I spread the flowers apart, it came walking out and stepped right up onto my finger. Didn’t seem to mind me photoing it numerous times, and even let me move it to the B-B-Q grill for better contrast. It only flied away when I tried to move it back to the ragweed. It’s about the same length as my fingernail (included for scale). I’ve never seen one of these before, but it does bear strong resemblance to the assassin bugs, except for it’s head, which is entirely different, looking more like a sea turtle from a Pixar movie. It has forelimbs like a mantid, or possibly a tiny cicada. It was also pretty hard to the touch like a stinkbug, and kind of weighty for it’s t iny size.
Mostly translucent green with a dark band across it’s abdomen, and a hard bony shell of a thorax which has a couple of knobs that protrude forward and up much higher than it’s head.
In a word, handsome.
Thanks much, Jeff Volpert
Topeka, Kansas, USA
Ambush Bug
Hi Jeff,
It would seem that Ambush Bug is an apt common name for your insect based on your letter. Recently Ambush Bugs have been downgraded from a family to becoming a subfamily status of the Assassin Bugs, Phymatinae. Your specimen is one of the Jagged Ambush Bugs in the genus Phymata.
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Posted 27 August 2009
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unknown bug in garden
July 29, 2009
I found this bug clinging to a carrot plant in my garden this afternoon, and I am totally stumped. I’m guessing that it’s molting (but the more I look, the less sure I am), but, even trying to imagine it without the baggage on its back, I have no clue what it is. And really I’m just stoked to finally have a reason to write in!
Ernie
Cripple Creek, VA
Ambush Bug
Hi Ernie,
This is a Jagged Ambush Bug in the genus Phymata. Not long ago, Ambush Bugs had their own family, but recently they have been demoted to a subfamily of the Assassin Bugs, Reduviidae. These small predators are well camouflaged on plants and flowers where they wait for their prey.
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Posted 30 July 2009
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unknown insect spotted in the flower bed
Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 4:47 PM
I snapped this photo of a strange insect in my flower bed. I have no idea what it is. This was the one and only time I’ve seen it. The paddle like front legs are interesting. You may have to zoom in a bit on the photo.
Mr. Rob
Eastern NC nearFayetteville
Ambush Bug
Dear Mr. Rob,
You have photographed a Jagged Ambush Bug in the genus Phymata. Ambush Bugs were originally in their own family, but they have recently been reclassified as Assassin Bugs in the family Reduviidae, and the Ambush Bugs subfamily Phymatinae. Ambush Bugs often wait on flowers in order to ambush and eat pollinating insects.
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Posted 01 July 2009
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sharing a conjugal assassination
Wed, May 6, 2009 at 12:27 AM
Hi WTB?!!
First let me say that I love your site! I use it all the time to find out what kind of critters I come across in my random days. AWESOME! While this is not a request for identification, I thought I’d share a nifty story about my first encounter with an 8-Spotted Forrester Moth. This was the only way to share the photos.
In March of 08 it was really windy as per usual, but I was bound and determined to take pictures of bugs. I was very excited to find a very colorful “butterfly” on one of the trees lining my driveway. Those trees are great as they have LOTS of flowers in the springtime and attract many bees and fluttery things for me to enjoy and photo. Well this little beauty seemed to be stuck somehow and didn’t/couldn’t fly away like they normally do when I get so close. Being one to take advantage of a situation I snipped the tip of the branch and brought it inside so I could get a better, calmer view.
Ambush Bugs eat Eight Spotted Forrester
Imagine my surprise when I followed the tongue of my “butterfly” down through the flowers into the mighty grip of a little female assassin! WOW! It was VERRRY windy that day so she must have been holding on insanely tight! Being as the (later identified) moth was already caught and most of the damage done I decided to let the macabre show play out and see what kinds of pictures I could get. Well they’re not quite the quality I was hoping for, but they’re clear enough to tell a story and get a point across. In the first diptych you can see her hanging on to the tongue (left) while he takes the lion’s share (right). In the second image was the “adults only” portion of the show where she was allowed to get hers while he *ahem* “got his”. The excitement of that capture was apparently great enough that he just couldn’t wait. And because they are so difficult to see amid the flowers the third image shows him strutting his stuff across the edge of a leaf as victor and stud.
Hope you enjoyed as much as I did. Creepy though it was, it was still way neat-o to see! the assassins were put back outside afterward to continue doing what they do. Unfortunately 1 moth was harmed in the process of making these photos, but that’s how nature rolls!
Mary in Magnolia, Texas
South-East Texas
Ambush Bugs eat Eight Spotted Forrester
Dear Mary,
Thanks so much for your graphic photos and riveting first hand, eye witness account of this mating and food chain marvel. We only have one slight correction. The amorous hungry couple are Assassin Bugs, but they are in the Ambush Bug subfamily Phymatinae . It was not until we searched BugGuide that we became aware of the taxonomic change as Phymatidae was once a distinct family. Thanks for providing this wonderful cross-tagged submission.
Ambush Bug
Bug Love Meets Where’s Waldo
Tue, Nov 11, 2008 at 7:49 PM
My son Sam took this picture of what he thought was an assassin bug on a flower. Later when we looked back at it we noticed that it was actually two bugs mating. If you can zoom in it’s really a pretty amazing picture. We are wondering now if they are assassin bugs since they don’t seem much like the others on this site. In any case, it’s one for your Bug Love. Any ideas? Thanks, as always, for your great great site!
Sam and Daddy Jim
Suburban backyard, 35 miles west of Chicago
Mating Ambush Bugs
Hi Sam and Daddy Jim,
Though they are sometimes mistaken for Assassin Bugs, Ambush Bugs are in a different family, Phymatidae. Your pair are Jagged Ambush Bugs in the genus Phymata, and you can see more images on BugGuide.
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Posted 13 November 2008
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Tagged: bug love
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