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Mating Wheel Bugs

On · Category: Assassin Bugs Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject:  Mating Wheel Bugs
Geographic location of the bug:  Pegram, TN
Date: 09/29/2018
Time: 05:45 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Taken w/ my iPhone. Found these two hanging upside down on my outdoor garbage can and was struck by the saw-tooth crescent thingy on their back. “What IS that??” A Google search took me to whatsthatbug, where I found the answer in Top 10 and learned about Assassin Bugs. Thanks, bug man!!
If you zoom in slightly, you can see the slender sex organ extending from the male’s abdomen towards her backside. Is this the aedeagus?Never saw one before.
Staying in zoom, it honestly looks as if his back left leg is pushing her wing slightly open for contact. And I’m probably imagining things now, after reading ‘How Insects Mate’ on thoughtco.com, but it looks like he’s tickling her with his two front left legs.
“One-third of insect species studied by scientists show….a decent effort on the male’s part to make sure the female is pleased with the sexual encounter.”
Well done, sir!!!
How you want your letter signed:  Anita Cold-Shower

Mating Wheel Bugs

Dear Anita Cold-Shower,
Your image of mating Wheel Bugs is awesome, and thanks to your careful research, we can add aedeagus to our insect vocabulary word list.  Aedeagus is defined on BugGuide as being:  “the intromittent organ of a male insect with its appendages” and according to Wikipedia:  “An intromittent organ is a general term for an external organ of a male organism that is specialized to deliver sperm during copulation.”

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Wheel Bug

On · Category: Assassin Bugs · Add Comment

Subject:  It looks like a dinosaur
Geographic location of the bug:  Washington, IL
Date: 09/25/2018
Time: 03:37 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Found this on a plant on my porch. It seemed like a praying mantis from far, with lanky legs. But on closer look, it had this strange hump on it’s back, like armor plated look. It’s body was very wide though, with interesting markings on the wings.
How you want your letter signed:  J

Wheel Bug

Dear J,
Congratulations on your first Wheel Bug sighting.  You are not the first person to describe it as looking like a dinosaur.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Mating Rough Stink Bugs

On · Category: Stink Bugs and Shield Bugs Tagged With: · Add Comment

Subject:  Mating Stink Bugs
Geographic location of the bug:  Jacksonville, Florida
Date: 09/22/2018
Time: 09:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I saw these flat, mating bugs that look like some sort of stink bug.  The picture was taken 9/22/2018 around 12:30 PM.
How you want your letter signed:  EK Gilley

Mating Rough Stink Bugs

Dear EK Gilley,
These are indeed mating Stink Bugs.  More specifically, they are mating Tree Stink Bugs or Rough Stink Bugs in the genus Brochymena.  According to BugGuide:  “Usually bark-like (cryptic). Lateral teeth on juga. Head elongated, pronotum laterally with toothlike projections, and rear margin of abdomen has pleated pattern.”  We haven’t posted a new image representing this genus in over a decade and we have learned quite a bit since then.  We used to write that they are a predatory species (a claim we never source cited) but we have come to realize this is not always the case, and as BugGuide indicates, they are:  “phytophagous (some reports of predation).” 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Corsair Bites Child

On · Category: Assassin Bugs · Add Comment

Subject:  Some kind of biting fly or wasp
Geographic location of the bug:  Simi Valley, CA
Date: 09/20/2018
Time: 08:50 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  Hello,
This bug landed on and bit my 7 year old. Can you please help identify it?
How you want your letter signed:  Terry Jenkin

Corsair

Dear Terry,
Though it is not considered dangerous, the bite of this Assassin Bug, Rasahus hamatus, commonly called a Corsair, is reported to be quite painful, and the Corsair is also one of the members of the Assassin Bug family that seems to bite without being provoked.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Hatchling True Bugs

On · Category: Leaf Footed Bugs · Add Comment

Subject:  Unknown Insect
Geographic location of the bug:  Wilmington, Delaware
Date: 09/19/2018
Time: 11:01 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  When recharging my electric vehicle, I found a swarm of these insects on the handle of the charging station.  They appear some sort of ant and as it started to rain, they grouped together into a tight formation.
How you want your letter signed:  Curious in Delaware

Probably Leaf Footed Bug Hatchlings

Dear Curious in Delaware,
These are hatchling True Bugs and we suspect they are in the Leaf Footed Bug family Coreidae.

 

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination

Wheel Bug

On · Category: Assassin Bugs · Add Comment

Subject:  Unknown Bug
Geographic location of the bug:  Eastern NC
Date: 09/18/2018
Time: 09:02 AM EDT
Your letter to the bugman:  I live in Eastern NC about an hour from the coast. saw this bug on my horse fence after Hurricane Flo blew through. Any idea?
How you want your letter signed:  AH

Wheel Bug

Dear AH,
While weather events like Hurricane Florence have been known to blow exotic insects to distant lands, potentially increasing their range, this Wheel Bug is a native species for you.

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What's That Bug? does not endorse extermination