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assassin bug nymph

Photo by Tom Maebe
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

one of the weirdest insects I ever saw. It was very hard to focus, because it was moving a lot and very small...I would be very gratefull to know more about the specie. Found in Maliau Basin, Sabah.

Habitat:

jungle

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (11)
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Very sorry to hear about your camera. Amazing spotting though!
Tom Maebe
Thanks for the wonderful explanation, Lori.tas. I am learning a lot here. Now I slowly start to know what I am actually photographing. Expect more to come...but unfortunately I need to take a forced break because my precious camera got stolen. Painful and since I am living so remote, it's hard to get a good new one. I need to fly for it.
lori.tas
Tom, it's the nymph of an assassin bug. It sticks on bits of termite carapaces and feces to camouflage itself, in order to invade the termite mounds and suck the juices out of termites (mmmm, nummy). Once the nymph metamorphoses into an adult, it can't use this strategy any longer, as the stuck on bits would keep it from being able to use its wings. I assume the black thing is just something it picked up off the floor of the mound, maybe a seed pod, maybe part of a termite. The best way I've found to envision the head is to use the little squiggly antennae on the left side as a guide, Excellent spotting. I've learned a lot from my searches.
Tom Maebe
So if I understand well this is a camouflaged termite...? Looks indeed like the pic on Flickr, Lori.tas. And the eye on the left leaves me wonder what's the black thing on the right...
Scott Frazier
When I saw this it reminded me of something I had spotted with similar camouflage and similar difficulty photographing: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7056632. But upon revisiting, I think the resemblance is only superficial...
lori.tas
And this interesting article: http://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/05/science/the-assassin-bug-finally-reveals-its-fatal-charm.html
lori.tas
The head is actually on the left, with the antennae (the eye is reddish looking to me).
lori.tas
Maybe something like this? http://www.flickr.com/photos/artour_a/4727481652/
Tom Maebe
haha...nope. See the black eye on the right? The size was about 5mm max.
Photographed
PublishedJuly 11, 2011

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