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Project Noah Nature School
Arilus cristatus
This Wheel Bug is gray in color with a bronze metallic looking patch on its upperside. It is about an inch and a half in length, it has a narrow head and a proboscis. It has a dorsal crest that is shaped like a wheel. Antennae are long as well as its' legs.
Found throughout the United States. They are often found among the following plants: sunflowers, goldenrod, and cotton. Can also be found among a variety of tree and fruit groves.
I found this guy hanging around my wild sunflowers. He's been there for weeks.Whenever I go out to take pictures he tries to hide from me which is a typical behavior for Wheel bugs. FUN FACTS: 1. They inject saliva into their prey which paralyzes and dissolves soft tissue allowing the Wheel bug to dine using its' proboscis/beak. 2. Females lay between 40-200 eggs. 3. Wheel bugs are beneficial to the garden because they dine on pests. 4. Their bites are said to be worse than that of a hornets sting! Ref: https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galv... http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/tree...
Spotted on Jun 9, 2020
Submitted on Jun 24, 2020
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