Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Photo#11550
Sail-back Dinosaur Bug (Wheel Bug) - Arilus cristatus

Sail-back Dinosaur Bug (Wheel Bug) - Arilus cristatus
Bowie, Prince George's County, Maryland, USA
August 19, 2004
Crawled around on sheet by black light without pestering my moths, reminds me of a reconstructed fossil from 100 million years ago.

Dino Bug
One of these flew into the bush by my door today as I was painting my house. I thought it was a wasp, so I went to investigate and saw this crazy looking thing instead. Having never saw such a strange insect before, I had to look it up. It's certainly a neat little thing isn't it?

 
Dino bug
I was taking a walk in Central Illinois today when I saw one of these wheel bugs on a plant. My finger was really close to it and it raised up like it was going to bite me. I pulled back because I knew I had read something about this bug before but couldn't remember what. Got home and looked it up and found out that the bite is really painful. Glad I didn't pick it up!

INDIANAPOLIS, IN
Found one of these criters in Carmel, Indiana. Is this bug suppose to be this far west and north. Does it create some type of Ecological in-balance.

 
Hi. The Data Map
shows all the places this bug has been photographed for BugGuide. You can see it here. It is part of the natural ecosystem of the area.

Wheel Bug
This one crawled on me in my house, manage to catch it in a clear dish.
Nashville, GA

Sail Back Dinosaur Bug in Missouri
Recently I captured one of these crazy looking bugs in my house, everything I read they don't belong in the mid-west. I guess he traveled with a recent package I recieved from NC.

Wheel Bug Bite
It is correct, much more painful than Bee sting, I was bitten between shoulder blades, no effects from bite. Did not put anything on the bite area, seems to have gone away, I was bitten on 11-09-05.
I was bitten while doing yard work in Kernersville N.C.

stinky too?
Do these guys come with a pungeant nasty little aroma too? We have tons of these beetles we often call "pine beetles" look very similar and man do they stink - and they sound like a hummingbird when they fly.

 
regarding the spray
this bug landed on my waist while i was relaxing with friends on a front porch in Macon, GA. It DOES dound like a hummingbird, it did not bite me, but when my friend scooped it off of me it sprayed his hand....resulting in a not too pleasant smell, but after I smelled the spray, I had an allergic reaction, and my entire body was COVERED in hives for 2 days before a trip to the emergency room for a shot of epiniephrine (sp?)....i thought it appropriate that these bugs are also known as "assasin" bugs...

 
No
I've seen many and none have ever smelled. Also, I'm pretty sure that these aren't found in MT....having lived there many years. I know the pine beetle that we talk about in MT is more like this.... They do sound somewhat alike, though.

Circular Saw Bug :)
Never heard the sail-back dinosaur name before. I think it should be called the circular saw bug.

Wheel bug
Respectable portrait of a wheel bug, Arilus cristatus, in the assassin bug family Reduviidae. Welcome, Bob, we look forward to more of your contributions:-) Please post a link to your website somewhere so we can visit that also.

Wheel Bug
Wheel Bug--Arilus cristatus. Very distinctive. They have a nasty bite, I understand.

Patrick Coin
Durham, North Carolina