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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae) » Melanolestes » Black Corsair (Melanolestes picipes)
Photo#8145
Black Corsair - Melanolestes picipes - female
Copyright © 2004 Cotinis

Black Corsair - Melanolestes picipes - Female
Horton's Pond, Chatham County, North Carolina, USA
September 24, 2004
Form abdominalis, formerly considered a distinct species. This was found under a log in a deciduous woodland. Apparently, this is an adult female--note the lack of wings. (Females are often flightless in this genus.)
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Contributed by Cotinis on 22 October, 2004 - 11:55am
Last updated 22 February, 2005 - 6:16am

sex and wing length in Melanolestes
All males of this species (actually now Melanolestes picipes, the red and black individuals are just a color variant) are macropterous (=have fully developed wings). Females may have wings of varying length. See:

McPherson, J. E., S. L. Keffer, and S. J. Taylor. 1992. Taxonomic status of Melanolestes picipes and M. abdominalis (Heteroptera: Reduviidae). The Florida Entomologist 74(3):396-403.
… Ceuthophilus, 4 November, 2004 - 3:31pm login or register to post comments

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