Genus Zelus

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · See Also · Works Cited

Assassin Bugs - Zelus luridus - male - female

Reduviid sp. in Palm Beach County, FL - Zelus longipes

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)

Subfamily Harpactorinae

Genus Zelus

Explanation of Names

Zelus Fabricius 1803

in Greek mythology, Zelos (ζελος, Latinized, Zelus) was a minor deity, personifying zeal, rivalry and anger

Numbers

7 spp. in our area(1), ~75 spp. total(2)

Size

14-21 mm

Identification

review in(3)

Telling apart Z. renardii, Z. cervicalis, & Z. tetracanthus from images alone may be problematic

Range

New World(2); in our area, most spp. are restricted to s./sw. US

Food

prey on a wide range of insects, e.g. boll weevils and leafhoppers, but up to 40% of diet may consist of lepidopteran larvae including cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, and pink cotton bollworm; beneficial predators, esp. in cotton, soybean, alfalfa crops and tree fruit(2)

Remarks

predation strategy unique: the bugs secret sticky substances from unique dermal glands on front tibiae (a derived trait of Zelus?), which are smeared onto setae that resemble leaves of sundew(2)

See Also

Repipta

Rocconota annulicornis

Works Cited

1.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico By Ross H. Arnett

2.	Taxonomic revision of Zelus Fabricius

3.	Genus Zelus Fabricius in the United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) By Hart E.R.

Contributed by Cotinis on 27 June, 2004 - 10:55am
Additional contributions by Bug Eric, v belov
Last updated 16 May, 2012 - 4:34pm

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