Common Assassin Bug from Australia

Subject: Wheel bug?
Location: Inner Western Sydney, Australia
December 11, 2012 6:58 pm
Looking at the site, he looks like he’s a wheel bug (or an Australian version of it?). Never seen anything like this around my area before.
Size: 25mm from tip of the head to rear end.
Signature: Takigama

Common Assassin Bug

Dear Takigama,
This is not a Wheel Bug which is a North American species, but like the Wheel Bug, it is an Assassin Bug in the family Reduviidae.  We believe we have correctly identified it as the Common Assassin Bug or Bee Killer, Pristhesancus plagipennis, thanks to the Brisbane Insect website, our first stop for Australian insect identifications.

Common Assassin Bug

Correction:  Thanks to a comment from Cesar Crash, we need to correct that Wheel Bugs are a new world species.  See the link to Cesar’s blog Insetologia.

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Location: Australia