Other Common Names
Orangespotted assassin bug, Corsair
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Rasahus Amyot and
Serville 1843
Explanation of Names
An interesting one! From Amyot and Serville (1843), description of genus
Rasahus,
page 326:
De l'hébreu (Hebrew characters: רשע ) rashah, scélérat
French scélérat means "villain" (Internet searches).
Identification
Large, dark reddish-brown,
corium in part yellow, membrane with a large yellow median spot
(1). Blatchley
(2) also notes that "front tibiae but little dilated near apex in front of the elongate spongy
fossa; corium and membrane of elytra with a yellow spot"--characters separating from
Melanolestes. Other features noted by Blatchley are:
eyes are larger and more convex than in Melanolestes
ocelli larger, more oval and set diagonally on a bilobed tubercle--compared to Melanolestes.
scutellar spine compressed, longer and more slender--compared to Melanolestes.
Separation of two eastern species, Rasahus biguttatus and Rasahus hamatus (Fracker, 1912):
c. Costal margin of hemelytra pale at base
d. No transverse
vitta at base of membrane....2.
biguttatus Say
dd. Transverse pale vitta at base of membrane....3. sulcicollis Serv. [Mexico]
cc. Costal margin of hemelytra black to base; elytra with a narrow ochreous patch on
corium and
clavus....4.
hamatus Fabr.
Blatchley
(2) gives the following key to the two eastern species:
Inner portion of basal half of
corium as far as tip of the
clavus, yellow; clavus black at base, its apical half or more yellow; body of male narrow, the
connexivum narrowly or not at all exposed. -->
hamatus
Basal half of
corium and the clavus both in great part yellow; body broad, the
connexivum widely exposed in both sexes.-->
biguttatusRange
R. biguttatus: North Carolina south to Florida, west to Iowa, Texas, California
(1). R. hamatus: Southeast. Other species in West--genus is largely neotropical.
Habitat
Ground-loving, frequently found under rocks. Comes to lights.
Remarks
Rasahus hamatus (and presumably other species), said to be able to deliver a painful bite (Missouri Conservationist).
See Also
Other members of the subfamily Peiratinae, the "pirates" or "corsairs":
Rasahus
Sirthenea--with only one North American species--
Sirthenea carinatus
Print References
Slater, p. 130, fig. 241, R. biguttatus
(1)
Blatchley, pp. 556, 559-560
(2) (links to pp.
556,
559)
Salsbury,
Insects in Kansas, p. 111--color photos of R. biguttatus
(3)
Fracker, S. B. 1912. A systematic outline of the Reduviidae of North America. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 19: 233.
Amyot, C.J.B. and Audinet Serville (1843). Histoire naturelle des insectes. Hémiptères. Paris: Librairie encyclopédique de Roret. (
link)
Internet References
A Literature-based Key to REDUVIIDAE (Heteroptera) of Florida
(4). Page 13 of key has descriptions and illustrations
R. hamatus and
R. biguttatus.
This page has photos of the Western Corsair,
Rasahus thoracicus.
Missouri Conservationist--
Amazing Assassins--gives common name for
Rasahus hamatus (a "corsair"), discusses bite
