Dec 29, 2024
Run your own race
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Run your own race
💃🛞☀️
Above, Arilus cristatus a North American Wheel Bug, the largest terrestrial hemipteran, and assassin bug in the US, photographed and edited on my phone 🤳
Can I get some appreciation for the North American Wheel Bug? I am obsessed with it. The stupid little beak. The big wet eyes. The weird comb like eggs. The buzzsaw on its back... A peak Creature.
North American Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus), family Reduviidae, found across much of North America from Canada to Guatemala
In the Assassin Bug family.
Predatory on a wide variety of small invertebrates.
Reaching up to 1.5 inches in length, the males are smaller than the females.
Capable of delivering a painful "bite" or puncture with the proboscis.
Can be cannibalistic.
Capable of producing a small squeaking sound by rubbing the proboscis on the underside of its body.
photograph by Ryan Kaldari
Nymph (juvenile stage) - photograph by MacroGrant
EAT A TASTY BEETLE!!! - photograph by Andy McLemore
photograph by Marmelmm
@keebeek submitted: check out the massive Arilus cristatus, or north american wheel bug, i found today walking into work!! i believe it was a female as it was absolutely massive
Large and beautiful!
North American wheel bug?
Have you seen the North American wheel bug (Arilus cristatus)?
I have now
Yes, in photos/videos
Yes, irl
I'm not sure
The first photo is of an adult, the second is of a freshly hatched nymph. Either way, what a charming face!!
Sketchbook dump pt 2
Hello, do you have a fact about wheel bugs? Such funky looking guys
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TODAY'S FACT IS
Did you know that the North American Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus) is one of my favourite bugs?
These funky fellas are related to assassin bugs but are easy to identify with the gear-shaped crest on its back.
These fantastic hunters use their proboscis to stab their prey (or potential predators in defense) and inject a group of enzymes to dissolve the insides of the prey. These bugs are often the top of the food chain in their local environment as they will feed on other insects, both invasive (brown marmorated stink bugs, for example) and beneficial (honey bees).
They make excellent natural pest control, but you gotta let them do their job or they will stab you and it will hurt for a while (reports often say from 2 weeks to 6 months you'll feel the pain) but it's not medically significant.
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Photo by reiver on iNaturalist
