damselbug

Description:

An bizarre mimetic spined insect with long antennae and very long rear legs. It is probably (incongruously!) a "damselbug", family Nabidae. "Damsel bug adults are tan or grey, with piercing-sucking mouthparts and enlarged front legs for grasping prey. They have slender bodies. Nymphs resemble adults, except they are smaller and have no wings. Adults and nymphs feed on many soft-bodied insects, including aphids, spider mites, leafhoppers, and small caterpillars." http://mint.ippc.orst.edu/damselid.htm "They are soft-bodied, elongate, winged terrestrial predators. Many damsel bugs catch and hold prey with their forelegs, similar to mantids. They are considered helpful species in agriculture because of their predation on many types of crop pests, such as cabbage worms, aphids, and lygus bugs. Damsel bugs of the genus Nabis are the most common. They and other genera are most numerous in fields of legumes such as alfalfa, but they can be found in many other crops and in non-cultivated areas. They are yellow to tan in color and have large, bulbous eyes and stiltlike legs. They are generalist predators, catching almost any insect smaller than themselves, and cannibalizing each other when no other food is available. Several species have bitten humans." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabidae In some ways it resembles an assassin bug.