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Zelus luridus
Photo#1011
Copyright © 2004
Troy Bartlett
Assassin Bug -
Zelus luridus
Chattahoochee Nat'l Rec Area, Medlock Bridge, Georgia, USA
August 1, 2002
Contributed by
Troy Bartlett
on 16 February, 2004 - 12:46pm
Last updated 29 September, 2006 - 4:25pm
Moved
Moved from
Zelus
.
…
Eric R. Eaton
, 29 September, 2006 - 4:25pm
Z. luridus
Apparently Z. luridus is the most common eastern species. Further, several of the other species once considered to range furhter north are now known to be restricted to the extreme southern U.S., or even south of the border.
…
Eric R. Eaton
, 29 September, 2006 - 4:24pm
Probably genus Zelus
This looks close to
Zelus exsanguis
as illustrated in Slater, How to Know the True Bugs (Wm. C. Brown, 1978), page 124, fig. 226. Length is given as 15-17 mm. Slater says about 12 spp. in this genus, most "restricted to southern and southwestern states". Genus Zelus described in Arnett, American Insects (2nd ed.) page 266. Web references:
Key to Florida Assassin Bugs--PDF
Univ. Kentucky Critter Case files
Insects Cedar Creek
http://inventory.ent.ncsu.edu/tree/dsp_species.cfm?genusName=Zelus (NCSU species list for Zelus, won't work as a live link.) That lists species for NC as: cervicalis, longipes, luridus, tetracanthus.
An image of Z. luridus on the web also looks close, including the red eyes. The genus looks probable, though I am prepared to be corrected.
…
Cotinis
, 10 March, 2004 - 8:01pm