Spotting of the day!
"The bright, conspicuous colors of the Giant Mesquite Bug are aposematic coloration meant to warn potential predators."
http://facebook.com/projectnoah/posts/111095758980744
http://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/80719898413772801
It was interesting to read in the "whatstatbug" entry about all of the people who collected an ate Thasus gigas. Too bad 'commercial harvesting' is cutting into those available for the locals. In Australia the prized eating insects are the thumb-sized grubs of root or wood boring moth (ocassionally beetle) species. Some witchetty grubs (local term) are said to taste like peanut butter. Mmmmm. ;)
I missed the update in the "whatsthatbug" entry. The photo of Thasus acutangulus you linked to above does seem to be the best match.
Very cool critter.
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