Sunday, July 22, 2007

Zelus sp. On the Walnut Tree

Zelus sp. on walnut tree, head and pronotum

I have a special fondness for assassin bugs, and when I lived in Our Nation's Capital, I saw several species often. However, here at the house on Droop Mountain, Zelus exsanguinus is the only species I've ever found. Fortunately, it's a handsome one.

Zelus sp. on walnut tree, Zelus sp. on walnut tree,

4 comments:

Larry said...

This assassin bug reminds me of our Wheel Bugs. I found a Wheel Bug the other night and it ended up getting loose in my bedroom. I'm keeping an eye out for it!

Rebecca Clayton said...

Uh-oh. Wheel bugs do not make good bedfellows. I hope you find him. Actually, I've handled lots of them, and never had one offer to bite, but I do treat them with respect.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, not good. I've never seen a wheel bug in my life before this summer when I got bit by one! I was sitting in a chair at a party, and something pinched my elbow, HARD, and I picked up my arm and found a little black monster hanging on me. I knocked it off my arm and it fell in my lap and reared back with it's bottom sticking up in the air and it's front legs and nice big fang sticking up, I thought it was a mutant mix of a spider and a scorpion...well my friend knocked it off of me, and later we looked it up and learned that it was a wheel bug.

Moral of the story? Don't get bit by a wheel bug. It hurts.

Anonymous said...

Oh and then last weekend I had one of these Zelus assassins in my hair. I thought it was a twig, but when I grabbed it, it grabbed back and clung to my finger. I realized then that it wasn't a twig and knocked it out fast, and looked at it closer on the ground where it fell. I think it was one of these guys.