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Project Noah Nature School
Riptortus sp
Well they start off black but this red ant lookalike has a prominent proboscis and dots on its abdomen that belie its true identity.
Among seed pods of a black wattle in remnant habitat in an inner city park
Two weeks back I spotted the black first (or second) instar and the (red) adult. I am making the risky assumption that they are the same species. http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/893... This is called the pod sucking bug (and it was on pods) or the wide eyed bug.
Spotted on Feb 24, 2012
Submitted on Feb 24, 2012
3 Comments
Excellent. I really should put my glasses on. :)
I like your question argybee. I spotted this one on the same acacia that I saw the others two weeks earlier. Their relationship is only suspected but I'm confident.
The black one is clearly an ant mimic and I agree that the red instar doesn't really have a good ant color. Yet bug nymphs are always flamboyant and overstated. Antennae are very important in ID'ing and I think these all have four segment but the longer distal segment looks like two.
I suppose we do have plenty of red ants but they are interesting shades.
Discrepancy with the adult antennae segments or is that not important?