A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Ptilocnemis femoralis
An assassin bug about 12 mm long with a grey body with black markings. It had a broad yellowish thorax, small head with a pair of 3-segmented bristly antennae. The hind pair of legs were larger than the others and the tibiae were heavily covered with silvery bristles.
The general colouring helped camouflage it against the bark it was on.
Spotted on the bark of a yellow box (Eucalypt) in a suburban garden. It is possibly hunting ants that were in large numbers on the tree.
This species is native to Australia and is found in the eastern states.
Assassin bugs ambush their prey which are small insects and attract them with a pheromone. They sometimes also stand on ant tracks and wave their feathery legs to attract ants. The bug posseses a rostrum with which it stabs the prey at a weak spot and then shakes the prey, maybe to stop it from stinging. It then injects it with saliva and stashes the prey in a crevice until the liquified body is ready to be sucked in.
Family: Reduviidae
Spotted on Nov 3, 2020
Submitted on Nov 3, 2020
No Comments