HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp

Clickable Guide

Calendar

Upcoming Events

See Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2023

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29

Photos of insects and people from the 2015 gathering in Wisconsin, July 10-12

Previous events

TaxonomyBrowse

Info

ImagesLinksBooksData

Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » True Bugs, Cicadas, Hoppers, Aphids and Allies (Hemiptera) » True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Cimicomorpha » Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae) » Harpactorinae » Harpactorini » Zelus

Genus Zelus

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Assassin Bug with ?? - Zelus tetracanthus

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

Tribe Harpactorini

Genus Zelus

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

revised in (1) (subgenera no longer recognized); North American fauna (Canada to n. Mexico) reviewed in (2)

Explanation of Names

Zelus Fabricius 1803

in Greek mythology, Zelos was a minor deity, personifying zeal, rivalry and anger

Numbers

7 spp. in our area, >70 total(1)

Size

8-25 mm (most 11-18 mm)(1)

Identification

Telling apart Z. renardii, Z. cervicalis, & Z. tetracanthus from images alone may be problematic, but see discussion here(3)

key to our common spp. in (2)

Range

New World, mostly neotropical(1)

Food

wide range of insects; up to 40% of diet may consist of lepidopteran larvae including cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, and pink cotton bollworm; beneficial predators, esp. in cotton, soybean, alfalfa crops and tree fruit(1)

Remarks

Predation strategy unique: the bugs secret sticky substances from unique dermal glands on front tibiae (a derived trait of Zelus?), which are smeared onto setae that resemble leaves of sundew(1)

NB: info on Z. exsanguis in two popular sources(4)(5) actually refers to Z. luridus (D.R. Swanson, pers. comm. to =v= 13.iii.2015)

Internet References

Discussion of 5 spp. in c. TX(3)

Works Cited

1.	A taxonomic monograph of the assassin bug genus Zelus Fabricius (Hemiptera: Reduviidae): 71 species based on 10,000 specimens Guanyang Zhang, Elwood R Hart, Christiane Weirauch. 2016. Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e8150 .

2.	Genus Zelus Fabricius in the United States, Canada, and Northern Mexico (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) Hart E.R. 1986. Ann. Ent. Soc. Am. 79: 535-548.

3.	Austin bug collection

4.	American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.

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

Contributed by Cotinis on 27 June, 2004 - 10:55am
Additional contributions by Bug Eric, Mike Quinn, Aaron Schusteff, v belov
Last updated 1 December, 2019 - 7:51pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2023 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Printer Friendly Version