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BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
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Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

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Genus Pselliopus

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 Pselliopus
Other Common Names
Sycamore assassin bug
Explanation of Names
Author of genus is Bergroth (Ernst Evald, d. cicra 1926), 1905. Pselliopus: see this comment by Chuck Entz, who suggests it's a combination of two Greek words: "psellion" (anklet or bracelet) + "pus; pous" (foot). Perhaps a reference to the legs of Pselliopus species, which are banded black and white as though adorned with bracelets.
Numbers
Arnett (1) and Nearctica.com list six species in genus.
Size
12-13 mm
Range
P. zebra is known from Arizona.
P. barberi, cinctus, and latiofasciatus are on a list for Oklahoma.
Habitat
Meadows, fields, typically on flowers, presumably waiting in ambush.
Season
Early summer through fall. Brimley, p. 73 (2) lists P. barberi from Raleigh in May and September-December. He lists P. cinctus from Raleigh west into Appalachians for "whole season". It looks as though, in the southeastern United States, adults are seen in spring (April?, May, June), presumably having overwintered. Nymphs are seen, apparently, in July and August. Adults are seen again in September, and presumably these overwinter.
Food
Predatory on other insects, especially those visiting flowers.
Life Cycle
Adults hibernate under rocks, bark, sometimes in groups. See "Season" for interpretation of life cycle.
Print References
Brimley, p. 73 (2)
Arnett and Jacques, account #53 (3)
Slater, pp. 124-5, fig. 227 (4)
Salsbury, Insects in Kansas, p. 110--color photo (5)
Internet References
Clemson University publication on Assassin Bugs has a photograph of Pselliopus barberi, which is very orange.
NCSU Entomology collection lists P. barberi and P. cinctus as the most common species from that state, with over 100 specimens pinned for each.
Photos of Pselliopus species from Illinois and Texas.
Amazing Assassins states adults overwinter.
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
By Ross H. Arnett
2.Insects of North Carolina
By C.S. Brimley
3.Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects
By Dr. Ross H. Arnett, Dr. Richard L. Jacques
4.How to Know the True Bugs
By Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M.
5.Insects in Kansas
By Glenn A. Salsbury and Stephan C. White