Subject: Insect Identification
Geographic location of the bug: Zarcero, Costa Rica
Date: 10/14/2017
Time: 04:28 PM EDT
I haven’t found this guy in books or websites yet. Is it possible you know what it is?
How you want your letter signed: Charlie Doggett
Dear Charlie,
Your insect bears such a strong resemblance to the North American Wheel Bug that we are quite certain it is in the same genus. Many years ago we posted an image of a mating pair of similar looking members of the genus that we tentatively identified as Arilus carinatus, but we do not know how many members of the genus are found in Central America. Right now we cannot access BugGuide to verify how many members of the genus are known. Flicker has an image of Arilus carinatus that looks very similar to your image, and we strongly suspect that identification is correct. A google book entitled Latin American Insects and Entomology by the amazing Charles Leonard Hogue has a drawing on page 223 of the Cog-Wheel Bug, Arilus carinatus.