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Wheel Bug

Arilus cristatus

Photo by ceherzog
Published on Project Noah
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27.1303, -82.4532

Field Notes

Description:

This is a nymph

Habitat:

community garden on kale

Species ID Suggestions

Wheel bug

Arilus cristatus

Reference Link
Latimeria
1

Comments (6)
ceherzog
Okay. I'm going with your ID even though my FL Insects book must have misidentified it. You seem to know what you're talking about! Are you an entomologist? Thanks so much.
Latimeria
Well, squash bugs are another family that's related to the assassin bugs, Coreidae. They're not synonymous, but they can be confused because they have features in common. Wheel bugs have a crest on their thorax when they're adults, but the nymphs don't have the crest. The nymphs are red on their abdomen and have a gray dusting over the rest of their body, and have red/orange antennae, like the one in your pictures.
ceherzog
I did find a link under wheel bugs that had a pic that looked just like my bug but it was called Assassin Bug/ Squash Bug when you opened it up. I'm beginning to think they might be synonymous. A lot of the Wheel Bugs seem to have a crested thorax. I'm confused.
Latimeria
That link doesn't identify the insect though, it just says it's an assassin bug. Check out the pictures on bug guide of other wheel bug nymphs and compare those with bee assassins, maybe that will help.
ceherzog
check out this pic http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/biodiversityproject.html I also found it in a FL insect book and it looked exactly like the insect I was shooting
Latimeria
This looks much more like a wheel bug nymph to me.
Photographed
PublishedMay 17, 2011

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