Subject: Beetle Perhaps
Location: East Central Florida
January 2, 2013 2:14 pm
Found this bug on a necklace pod plant. Central east Florida. He is about 1 inch long
Signature: Ken Pichon

Broad Headed Bug

Dear Ken,
This is a Broad Headed Bug in the genus Hyalymenus, possibly Hyalymenus longispinus which is pictured on BugGuide and which is endemic to Florida according to BugGuide.  Though there are no photos available of the other two species, BugGuide notes:  “3 spp. restricted to FL (H. longispinus, H. notatus, H. potens).”

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Subject: Wingless wasp?
Location: Austin, Texas, USA
October 27, 2012 7:21 pm
Hello
I saw this insect working its way up a cedar tree outside the job. Thought it was an ant at first yet it appears to have some type of wing structure on its back. Not sure what it is. My guess would be a wingless wasp. It resembles a velvet ant minus the velvet. Feel free to post if you find this insect interesting.
Thanks
-Calvin
Signature: Calvin

Broad Headed Bug

Dear Calvin,
This is an immature Broad Headed Bug which is believed to mimic the appearance of an Ant.  Ants are in the same insect order as Wasps, Hymenoptera.  Your confusion makes perfect sense.  Immature Broad Headed Bugs effectively mimic Ants.  Broad Headed Bugs are often called Ant Bugs.  Here is a photo from BugGuide of an immature Broad Headed Bug in the genus Alydus.

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Subject: Butt eyed ant
Location: Lilburn, Georgia
October 6, 2012 3:51 am
I found this guy on a weed that had grown up in my salvia bush. It had two spots on it’s butt that looked like eyes. Quiet a beautiful ant.
Signature: antwatcher’s sister

Ant Bug Nymph

Dear antwatcher’s sister,
Though this is not an Ant, your error is understandable.  This is an immature Broad Headed Bug in the genus Alydus, and they are frequently called Ant Bugs since they are such effective ant mimics.  There are several fine photos on BugGuide.

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Subject: What is this thing?
Location: A wetland in Reynoldsburg, Ohio
October 7, 2012 2:35 pm
Me and two fellow students are doing a project concerning the insect life in our backyard wetland. We found this nifty-looking guy, but have no idea what it is. I’ve looked everywhere online, and asked in a bunch of other Q&A sites, and gotten nothing. People keep saying it might be a velvet ant, but I know it’s not. It has a proboscis, long antenni, really long back legs, and you might not be able to see in the pictures, but it appears to have very small, possibly vestigial wings folded up on the back of its thorax.
Signature: Connor

Immature Ant Bug

Hi Conner,
This True Bug is a very effective ant mimic.  We believe it is an immature Ant Bug in the genus Alydus, a group of Broad-Headed Bugs that are well represented on BugGuide.  The BugGuide genus page mentions the common name Ant Bug.  We would not discount that it might be a nymph of a Black Damel Bug, Nabis subcoleoptratus, based on this photo on BugGuide , but we still favor the Broad Headed Bug. 

Immature Broad-Headed Bug

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This one ate all the leaves on my pear tree
Location: Louisiana
October 27, 2011 3:56 pm
I had a bug problem last year and it is coming back. And I can’t find out what it is to deal with it. I’ve never had anything like this before. I hope you can help.
Signature: Michael

Texas Bow-Legged Bug

Dear Michael,
We do not believe this Broad Headed Bug is the pear tree defoliator.  We suspect your species might be the Texas Bow-Legged Bug, Hyalymenus tarsatus, based on images posted to BugGuide which states:  “Often be seen feeding on a variety of plants, especially euphorbias and seed pods of legumes and milkweeds.”  Since Broad Headed Bugs have piercing and sucking mouthparts, they would not be capable of eating leaves. 

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A wrapping at my chamber window
Location: Costal Connecitut
July 4, 2011 11:26 pm
Hello there. Humid summer nights in Connecticut are often less than pleasant. Especially during the evening when all the flying beetles come out.
Still, I must imagine I must have it a lot better here than some people do elsewhere.
I guess the best way to describe me is as a creeped-out observer. I finds insets fascinating on some level but I am also very creeped out by many of them.
I heard tapping over near my window on the second floor. I figured it might be flying beetles. I know the the few silverfish that seem to periodically live in the old window are silent runners. Still I went over to the window to close it and what did I find but this black mystery bug. I managed to take a few pictures. I hope they help. Something tells me it was beetles tapping at the window but my curiosity always gets the better of me.
I hope you can help.
Signature: Max

Broad Headed Bug

Hi Max,
This is a Broad Headed Bug in the family Alydidae, most likely Alydus eurinus based on images posted to BugGuide.  They feed on the juices of plants, so you don’t need to worry if they should gain admission to your room.  We could not locate any information about them being attracted to lights at night, but we did learn that they are sometimes called Ant Bugs because the immature nymphs mimic ants.

Thank you! That’s a relief.
You run a great website. I look forward to being a frequent reader/supporter.
-Max

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Couple of Brown Bugs
Location: Singapore
March 8, 2011 9:27 am
Hi there,
I remember asking this a couple of days here, maybe my question did not push through this site. Anyways, I found a couple of brown colored bugs, one in a park, another during our macro photo session with some friends here in Singapore. Nobody could rightly identify them. Maybe you would know them, guys. Thanks a lot.
Signature: Giovanni

Bean Bug

Hi Giovanni,
In our opinion, both of your insects look like Broad-Headed Bugs in the family Alydidae.  You may compare your images to photos of North American species posted to BugGuide.

Update:  April 8, 2013
Thanks to David who provided a comment with an identification of the Soybean Pod Bug or Bean Bug, Riptortus linearis, one of the Broad Headed Bugs.  We verified that on Nature.edu.tw and on FlickR.

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