Apr 2, 2022
#1818 - Tegea atropicta - Termite Assassin
Photo by Colleen Poiter, Castle Hill, NSW.
Another assassin bug with a specialised diet - in this case termite, which it catches by lurking above termite tunnels and stabbing anybody that turns up to object. They can continue to feed for over an hour as worker termites arrive to clear up the bodies of their dead sisters. In this case, the smell of all those exposed tunnels attracted the assassins from all over and the resulting carnage would have impressed Vlad Tepes.