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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae) » Repipta » Red Bull Assassin (Repipta taurus)

Species Repipta taurus - Red Bull Assassin

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

horned reduviid; Zelus sp? - Repipta taurus

Assassination of a Treehopper - Repipta taurus

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 Repipta

Species taurus (Red Bull Assassin)

Explanation of Names

Species name taurus is Latin for bull, of course, famous for its use as the name of a constellation.

Numbers

Nearctica lists two species:

Repipta flavicans Amyot and Serville 1843 (Zelus)

Repipta taurus Fabricius 1803 (Zelus)

Size

11-13 mm

Identification

Compare Zelus longipes. Note projecting spines on thorax, thoracic pattern.

George C. Champion. 1897-1901. Biologia Centralia Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Volume II. Tab 16 shows eight species of Repipta including taurus and flavicans. PDF - HTML.

Range

Pennsylvania south to Florida and southwest to Texas (1)

See Also

Zelus longipes

Print References

Slater, p. 126, fig. 231 (1)

George C. Champion. 1897-1901. Biologia Centralia Americana. Insecta. Rhynchota. Hemiptera-Heteroptera. Volume II. Tab 16 shows eight species of Repipta including taurus and flavicans. PDF - HTML.

Internet References

Giff Beaton's page includes a photo from Georgia

Key to Florida Reduviidae--pdf file

Rice University, specifically, this image of a specimen

Biologia Centrali-Americana--Rhynchota, volume II, tab 16, #13 (Smithsonian)

North Carolina State University Entomology Collection has just this one species listed, with 10 pinned, including specimens from that state.

Works Cited

1.	How to Know the True Bugs By Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M.

Contributed by Cotinis on 27 June, 2004 - 11:20am
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn
Last updated 23 July, 2008 - 11:30am

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