Species #12: Unidentified Insect
Unidentified Insect:
I noticed this little creature crawling around on me after I had been pulling some weeds. I was mostly pulling grass, so that’s what I think it had been on prior to me. It is quite small, less than 1cm in length (actually, probably less than 5mm in length). The color and pattern was quite striking, so I decided to take some photos. Although it was capable of flying (and did so a couple of times while I was trying to take pictures), it did not seem inclined to fly much. It preferred walking. Even after sitting in the refrigerator for awhile, it was still moving (quickly for its size) and rarely stopped. It was so small that I was using the 1-5x macro lens which does not have automatic focus, so I found it quite challenging. One thing I noticed when looking at the pictures is the particularly long protrusion from it’s mouth area. This can be seen in the large photo above, but is best seen in the photo where the insect appears to be cleaning its antenna (click on thumbnail below).
I have no idea what this insect is, so I’ve submitted it to bugguide.net with hope of help.
This looks similar to a group called Assassin Bugs I was studying yesterday. The long “protrusion” from it’s mouth is unique because it serves two functions; First to pierce and inject a tissue liquifying nerve agent. The second to extract the liquified remains. Most insect with this behavior have two separate tubes; one for in, one for out. He looks similar to the Wheel Bug variety, with out the spoked hump on it’s back.
Comment by david — April 16, 2008 @ 7:31 am