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Genus Arilus

Weird Orange Insect - Arilus cristatus Wheel Bug - Arilus cristatus Wheel Bug nymphs - Arilus cristatus Assassin bug nymph - wheelbug perhaps? - Arilus cristatus Wheel Bug - Arilus cristatus Wheel bug Nymph? - Arilus cristatus Wheelbug - Arilus cristatus Wheel Bug - Arilus cristatus - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)
Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)
Family Reduviidae (Assassin Bugs)
Genus Arilus
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Arilus Hahn, 1831.
Explanation of Names
Likely from New Latin arillus meaning "dried grapes", or "a wrapper". The derived botanical term aril is an outgrowth of a seed (its "wrapper") (1), (Internet searches). This perhaps refers to the dry, gray appearance of the insect.
Another possible, though less likely, root is Greek ari, warlike (1).
Numbers
Nearctica (2) lists one North American species, cristatus.
Other species in the genus are neotropical:
Arilus carinatus (Forster, 1771), known from South America, including Brazil (ITIS, Internet searches)
Arilus depressicollis (Stal, 1859), Central America (Biologia Centrali-Americana, Internet searches)
Arilus gallus (Stal, 1872), Central America (Biologia Centrali-Americana, Internet searches)
Remarks
The author of this genus, Carl Wilhelm Hahn (1786-1835) is rather obscure--he is known, mostly, for his work on spiders. The publication for this genus is Hahn's Die wanzenartigen Insecten: getreu nach der Natur abgebildet und beschrieben (Bug-like Insects: shown and described faithfully after nature). Biodiversity Heritage Library links:
volume 1, p. 33--description of Arilus serratus
illustration of Arilus serratus
Print References
Borror, entries for ari, arill (1)
Biologia Centrali-Americana Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Volume II (1897-1901) by George C. Champion see Tab 17 (link)