Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Registration is open for the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

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


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
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 » Wheel Bugs (Arilus) » North American Wheel Bug (Arilus cristatus)
Photo#994545
DSC_0117 - Arilus cristatus
Copyright © 2014 Rachid H

DSC_0117 - Arilus cristatus
Sparta, Sussex County, New Jersey, USA
August 1, 2014
Thank you much for helping me ID this beetle or is it?
tag · login or register to post comments
Contributed by Rachid H on 11 September, 2014 - 1:00pm

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
Not a beetle but a predatory "true bug" with a sucking-piercing beak folded under the body from the head, rather than the horizontally moving pincer-like jaws of a beetle. This particular kind of true bug pierces its insect prey with its powerful beak, injects digestive fluids into the bug (external digestion), and sucks out the resulting soup. One of our friends, because it helps control the otherwise runaway populations of insects that like to eat our plants.
… Joe, 11 September, 2014 - 1:10pm login or register to post comments

wheel bug
Arilus cristatus
… metrioptera, 11 September, 2014 - 1:05pm login or register to post comments

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.

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 © 2003-2024 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact