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Species Apiomerus crassipes - Eastern Bee Assassin

Red and black assassin - Apiomerus crassipes

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Just finished laying eggs - Apiomerus crassipes

Apiomerus crassipes? - Apiomerus crassipes

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hemiptera (True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies)

Suborder Heteroptera (True Bugs)

Infraorder Cimicomorpha

Family Reduviidae (Assassin Bugs)

Subfamily Harpactorinae

Genus Apiomerus

No Taxon (crassipes species group)

Species crassipes (Eastern Bee Assassin)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Reduvius linitaris Say 1832

Herega rubrolimbata Amyot & Serville 1843

Explanation of Names

Apiomerus crassipes (Fabricius 1803)

crassipes 'thick-footed'

Size

♂ 12.2-18.3 mm, ♀ 14.8-20.1 mm(1)

Identification

A medium-sized, flattened, assassin bug with mostly black body, orange or reddish margins. Body has prominent upright hairs.(2)

Sympatric with A. floridensis in peninsular Florida and elsewhere with A. spissipes but easily distinguished by its black coloration. Range does not overlap with other blackish species (A. californicus and A. montanus) which were previously included under A. crassipes.

Range

In the United States, east of 100°W(1)

Remarks

Common. Exhibits a low degree of polychromatism, however there is a large variation in size. Smallest specimens occur in the southeast and the larger specimens are found in the north and west.

Print References

Bouseman J.K. (1976) Biological observations of Apiomerus crassipes (F.) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Pan-Pac. Entomol. 52: 178-179. (Full text)

Works Cited

1.	Revision of the crassipes and pictipes species groups of Apiomerus Hahn (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) Berniker L., Szerlip S., Forero D., Weirauch C. 2011. Zootaxa 2949: 1–113.

2.	How to Know the True Bugs Slater, James A., and Baranowski, Richard M. 1978. Wm. C. Brown Company.

Contributed by Cotinis on 9 June, 2004 - 1:51pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Mike Quinn, John S. Ascher, drswanny, Aaron Schusteff, v belov, Kyhl Austin
Last updated 30 March, 2024 - 8:13am

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