Leafhopper Assassin Bug Nymph
Zelus renardii
33.1468, -117.009
Field Notes
Description:
Long legged insect with long slender multi-colored body. Black spotted legs and long antenna. It had an ant in the first three images. The second pic is upside down. It was underneath the leaf so you're looking at its underside. It crawled on my glove so I snapped a couple pics before I placed it back on a leaf. This nymph of this species has a special adaptation to help it catch prey (see notes).
Habitat:
Cape Honeysuckle and Bougainvillea leaves in backyard.
Notes:
"Zelus possesses a unique sticky trap predation strategy. Species of Zelus (Harpactorini) such as ... Z. renardii have been found to secret sticky substances from unique dermal glands on the front tibiae, which are smeared onto setae that resemble leaves of sundew.
The ontology of this behavior is interesting. Newly hatched nymphs do not posses dermal glands or produce secretions. Instead, they collect material from the sticky coating of eggs that the female produced and use it for prey capture. Tibial dermal glands start developing from the second instar on." - UC, Riverside
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