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Photo#9990
Squash Bug or Assassin Bug Nymph - Arilus cristatus
Copyright © 2005 Bill Johnson

Squash Bug or Assassin Bug Nymph - Arilus cristatus
District of Columbia, USA
June 19, 2000
Is this an Assassin bug nympha or a Squash Bug nymph?
Contributed by Bill Johnson on 22 January, 2005 - 12:40am
Last updated 8 March, 2005 - 4:41pm

Assassin Bug
The three pictures seem to be of different bugs, perhaps different stages?
I believe that the one with the red markings is a wheel bug nymph.
In two of the pictures you can see the beak.
Great pictures by the way.
… Charles Schurch Lewallen, 22 January, 2005 - 8:13am

 
Wheel bug nymph
Two of the three are wheel bugs. The newly-hatched nymphs of the wheel bug have a bright red abdomen they hold upright. As they age, the red color fades and they get the "gray hair." The crest apparently does not appear until adulthood.
… Eric R. Eaton, 24 January, 2005 - 5:26pm

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