Subject: Extra Pictures
Location: Concord Township Ohio
October 24, 2012 1:03 pm
I included 3 pictures. Found this little guy in July, northeastern Ohio.
Checked a ton of sites with no luck, any ideas?
Signature: Sean Mitchell
Ambush Bug
Hi Sean,
This stealth hunter is an Ambush Bug.
Subject: 2 colors of mating ambush bugs
Location: Tonasket, WA
August 18, 2012 11:51 pm
Thanks to your awesome site, I was able to ID this couple quickly, even on dial-up! They must have really really good eyesight because they kept hiding in the Joe-Pye Weed every time I got them in my viewfinder. My husband took one look at the pictures and said, ” Look at the forearms, they have to be some sort of predator!”
Signature: Cathy
Mating Ambush Bugs
Hi Cathy,
We have two possible explanations for the discrepancy between the colors of these mating Ambush Bugs. Ambush Bugs are masters of camouflage and they often match the colors of their surroundings. Hemipterans are often much lighter in color just after metamorphosis. It is possible the female just completed metamorphosis to an adult and her coloration has still not darkened. Your photos are a wonderful addition to our Bug Love tag.
Mating Ambush Bugs
Subject: Unusual insect – found in KY
Location: Louisville, KY
July 23, 2012 6:15 am
Dear Bugman,
I was out doing some macro photography at a local arboretum outside of Louisville, Ky. when I found this little critter hanging out on the side of a coneflower.
I have seen one like it before, only white, hiding on some purple milkweed but I have no idea what they are. Any ideas?
Signature: John S
Ambush Bug
Hi John,
This effective camouflage artist is an Ambush Bug, a predatory species that often waits on blossoms for prey. The coloration of Ambush Bugs often closely matches the blossoms upon which it waits. The blossoms on the milkweed you mentioned were most likely closer in coloration to the Ambush Bug that resided there.
Subject: Bee-Eating Bug
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
June 17, 2012 3:12 pm
Hi there,
I had a one time encounter with this bug and have been trying to identify it since 2009. I am not certain if it killed the bee, but it was certainly sucking the juices from it. Any help would be much appreciated! It was found in late summer in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Signature: Sincerely, Morgan S
Ambush Bug eats Bee
Hi Morgan,
This efficient and stealth predator is an Ambush Bug. They frequently wait on blossoms to ambush insects that are attracted to nectar and pollen.
Ambush Bug eats Bee
Subject: Ambush bug???
Location: Zuma Canyon, Malibu, California
May 24, 2012 10:39 am
Hi Bugman,
I found this guy on Eriogonum fasciculatum (buckwheat) – I didn’t see him until I moved the flower and he crawled around back to get away from me. I don’t know what he is. The closest thing I can guess is some sort of ambush bug. His coloration is amazing! What is it?
Signature: C. Anderson
June 4, 2012
Hey Bugman!
Still can’t figure out what this is. I am going back out this week to look for him. Any ideas?
Thanks, Crystal
Immature Ambush Bug
Hi Crystal,
We missed your original email and we returned to our unanswered mail in order to find your location. You are correct. This is an Ambush Bug and it appears to be an immature individual. It is possible it is freshly molted and its colors haven’t darkened yet, or it might have adapted to blend in to the colors of the buckwheat blossom. It might be Phymata pacifica, a species represented on BugGuide from California, however BugGuide has no images of nymphs.
2 interesting bugs
Location: Kitchener Ontario Canada
September 29, 2011 2:55 pm
Hi, Bugman
I have 2 bugs that I am curious about..
The first was found deceased on my windowsill, even so very pretty insect.
The 2nd Yellow bug I found today has the shape of an assassin bug almost from the top but I noticed mantis like hooked forelegs when viewed from the side.
Thanks
Signature: Martzart
Cuckoo Wasp
Dear Martzart,
The beautiful metallic blue insect you found dead in your car is a Cuckoo Wasp in the family Chrysididae. Your yellow insect is an Ambush Bugin the subfamily Phymatinae. In the not too distant past, Ambush Bugs were classified in their own family, but recent taxonomy has reclassified them as a subfamily of the Assassin Bugs.
Ambush Bug
Ambush Bug Eating Honeybee
Location: Milton, VT, USA
June 25, 2011 8:56 am
I mentioned the Ambush Bug in my previous submission so I thought I would send you the photos of the one I saw that had ”ambushed” a honeybee in a Queen Anne’s Lace! The one I am holding is a second one that was in the next flower over. He/she had the coolest face I’ve ever seen on a bug (except for a cicada), kind of reminded me of a dinosaur. Anyway I hope you enjoy these, and I love this site. This site kept me from killing a pseudoscorpion I found in my closet that I thought was a tick!
Signature: Betsy
Ambush Bug eats Honey Bee
Hi Betsy,
Your letter inspired the entire editorial staff to go out and weed in the garden and observe insects on our grounds in Mt. Washington, Los Angeles. Many of the species of insects in the east that frequent Queen Anne’s Lace also visit the flowering carrots in our our garden. Pollinating insects love Queen Anne’s Lace and carrots as do predators that prey upon pollinating insects. The staff began to feel guilty that computers were abandoned and emails and comments were left unanswered so we returned to the desk, but we only felt guilty enough to post your letter and wonderful photographs before immediately heading back outside to the sun and activity.
Ambush Bug
Thanks Daniel! Your entire site today inspired me to go outside and take about 100 pictures of teeny tiny bugs! I even spotted a spider the size of a pin head that had caught one of those little iridescent flies on a milkweed, a perfectly matched green grasshopper hiding in milkweed blossoms/leaves, and lots of mating beetles! Our Queen Anne’s Lace hasn’t blossomed yet this year but I always look for the Goldenrod crab spiders and other interesting critters that reside in them on my walks.
Elisabeth
The Armored Assassin
Jagged Ambush Bug
The Armored Assassin
Location: Mid-Missouri
October 29, 2010 9:34 pm
While I love all bugs, I think one of my favorite has to be the Ambush Bug. It is just a armored shell of terror. He sits hidden inside or behind a flower bloom waiting for his prey to land for their last sip of nectar. He emits a type of authority and force like I rarely see in the insect world. Sure, all Assassin Bugs are made up of terror to other insects, but to me, none give that incredible look of strength in the same way as the Ambush Bug. For me, this is as good as it gets and I feel fortunate to have had about half a dozen sightings of them this year..many times with prey in hand.
Here are 3 of my favorite pictures from the past couple months of my favorite assassin bug….if not my favorite bug, period.
My ID: Jagged Ambush Bug – Phymata fasciata (I’m certain on Phymata, fairly certain on Phymata fasciata).
Signature: Nathanael Siders
Ambush Bug feeds on Skipper
Hi Nathanael,
Thanks again for submitting some wonderful images as well as your first hand observations. Ambush Bugs were originally classified in their own family, but recent years have seen a change in the taxonomy, and they are now a subfamily of the Assassin Bugs. We agree that this is a Jagged Ambush Bug in the genus Phymata, though we do not feel qualified enough to determine the exact species as the members of the genus are all quite similar. Can you recall the identity of the prey in your one photo? It appears to be a Skipper butterfly.
Jagged Ambush Bug
You are correct, it was a skipper that became his meal. I have also seen them eating syrphids a good bit around my house.
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