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A wonderful assassin, the thread-legged bugs are tiny with very long thread-like legs and antennae. They walk on the 2nd and 3rd pairs of legs very slowly and majestically. The front pair are raptorial and are held out in front of the body. This one had a strong forward pointing spine on the apex of the pronotum, which was scalloped, dark brown and lined in white. The wings were very beautiful, with a flat cut broad termination. The abdomen was entirely black. This one was about 4 mm in body length. Family Reduviidae, Subfamily Emesinae.
Found on a woody plant, Rancho Nuevo Park, 10 km east of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 2,200 meters.
See: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/125... for a second species from San Cristobal de Las Casas.
Spotted on Jun 23, 2018
Submitted on Aug 6, 2018
6 Comments
Congrats. Strange yet effective little bugs.
Congratulations Lauren.
Wow! Never seen one like that. Congrats, Lauren.
Congratulations Lauren, this amazing little assassin bug is our Spotting of the Day:
Tiny and intricate with raptorial front legs, our Spotting of the Day somehow resembles a mantis, but you're looking at a Thread-legged Assassin Bug! Lauren Zarate writes about her spotting: "A wonderful assassin, the thread-legged bugs are tiny with very long thread-like legs and antennae. They walk on the 2nd and 3rd pairs of legs very slowly and majestically. The front pair are raptorial and are held out in front of the body. This one had a strong forward pointing spine on the apex of the pronotum, which was scalloped, dark brown and lined in white. The wings were very beautiful, with a flat cut broad termination. The abdomen was entirely black. This one was about 4 mm in body length. Family Reduviidae, Subfamily Emesinae."
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You're welcome Gilma, it does look a little mantis-like with those raptorial front legs. Once your eye knows what they look like, you'll start to see more of them. I just found a different species and will put it up. They are so tiny and complicated little creatures.
Thank you for this post, LaurenZarate. I found something very similar and I was sure it was a mantis, but now that I see yours, it might have been an Assassin Bug...when I first saw mine It actually looked like a spider with those thin striped legs...it was also very small. Your post will help me to get closer to an ID.