jagged ambush bug
(Phymata americana)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
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Description |
There are 17 species of jagged ambush bugs (genus Phymata) that occur in North America north of Mexico. Only two species have been recorded in Minnesota. Jagged ambush bug is a small, well-camouflaged, ambush bug. It occurs throughout the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. It is very common in Minnesota. It is found on flowers in open and semi-open areas, including forest edges, farms, meadows, and gardens. Adults are 5 ⁄16″ to ½″ (7.5 to 12 mm) in length and light colored with dark markings. The light color may be yellow, yellowish-white, yellowish-green, greenish-yellow, or any combination of these. The dark markings are usually dark brown to almost black but are sometimes medium brown, brownish-orange, or brownish-yellow. Males tend to be darker than females. There are two large compound eyes, one on each side of the head, and two simple eyes (ocelli) on the top of the head (vertex). The antennae have four segments. The last segment is only slightly enlarged (clubbed). The collection of protruding mouthparts (beak) is short, has three segments, and is optimized for sucking. The exoskeletal plate covering the thorax (pronotum) has jagged, spiny, rear corners. This feature gives the genus its common name. The pronotum usually has four alternating bands, two light and two dark. These may be obscure or appear as a pair of light spots on each side. The plate between the bases of the wings (scutellum) is triangular and shorter than the pronotum. The abdomen has a flattened, greatly enlarged margin (connexivum). It is more or less diamond-shaped, widest in the middle, with smooth, rounded lateral sides and a broadly rounded tip (apex). It is pale with a broad dark band across the widest part. The segments of the connexivum are not dilated and the sides are not notched. On abdominal segments 3 and 4, each connexiva usually has a dark marginal spot, though this is sometimes lacking in recently molted (teneral) individuals. The wings at rest are held folded over the back. They cover only the middle portion of the abdomen, leaving the sides exposed. The legs are pale. On the front legs the third segment (femur) is greatly enlarged, optimized for grasping large prey. When the front legs are folded, the fourth segment (tibia) fits into a groove on the bottom of the femur. The last part of the leg (tarsus), corresponding to the foot, has three segments. |
Size |
Total length: 5 ⁄16″ to ½″ (7.5 to 12 mm) |
Similar Species |
Pennsylvania ambush bug (Phymata pennsylvanica) connexivum is distinctly notched at the widest part. The segments of the connexivum are dilated. Connexiva on abdominal segments 3 and 4 usually do not have a dark marginal spot. It is present in Minnesota but rare. |
Habitat |
Open and semi-open areas, including forest edges, farms, meadows, and gardens. |
Biology |
Season |
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Behavior |
Adults prefer yellow or blue flowers where their camouflage is most effective. They may have the ability to change their colors somewhat in response to their environment. They can capture prey up to ten times their own size. |
Life Cycle |
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Nymph Food |
Small insects |
Adult Food |
Bees, butterflies, flies, day-flying moths, and other true bugs. |
Distribution |
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Sources |
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| 8/7/2024 | ||
Occurrence |
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Very common and widespread |
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Taxonomy |
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Order |
Hemiptera (true bugs, hoppers, aphids, and allies) |
Suborder |
Heteroptera (true bugs) |
Infraorder |
Cimicomorpha |
Superfamily |
Reduvioidea |
Family |
Reduviidae (assassin bugs) |
Subfamily |
Phymatinae (ambush bugs) |
Tribe |
Phymatini |
Genus |
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Subgenus |
Phymata |
Subordinate Taxa |
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jagged ambush bug (Phymata americana americana) jagged ambush bug (Phymata americana coloradensis) jagged ambush bug (Phymata americana metcalfi) jagged ambush bug (Phymata americana obscura) |
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Synonyms |
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Common Names |
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| jagged ambush bug | |
The common name of this species is the same as the common name of the genus. |
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Glossary
Beak
On plants: A comparatively short and stout, narrow or prolonged tip on a thickened organ, as on some fruits and seeds. On insects: The protruding, tubular mouthpart of a sucking insect.
Connexivum
In Heteroptera: the enlarged, flattened margins of the abdomen. Plural: connexiva.
Femur
On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.
Ocellus
Simple eye; an eye with a single lens. Plural: ocelli.
Pronotum
The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.
Scutellum
The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.
Tarsus
On insects, the last two to five subdivisions of the leg, attached to the tibia; the foot. On spiders, the last segment of the leg. Plural: tarsi.
Tibia
The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.
Vertex
The upper surface of an insect’s head.
Visitor Photos |
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Mike Poeppe |
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Alfredo Colon |
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This is a very interesting photo. The female ambush bug is feeding on a bee while the male is mating with her........ |
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Linda C |
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My mini dragon on brown eyed susan |
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Bob Payton |
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Lunchtime! Aug, 18, 2022 |
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Dan W. Andree |
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Ambush Bug caught a Honey Bee... August 3, 2022 on a prairie in Norman Co. Mn. Was hard to photograph the prairie flower it was on kept swaying in the breeze. |
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Ambush Bug on a flower..... |
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Greg Watson |
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| Jagged ambush bug
I took these two pictures of a Jagged Ambush Bug at Eagles Bluff Park in La Crescent, MN on 9 September 2021. |
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Maureen Burkle |
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Phymata Americana on Wild Quinine |
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Luciearl |
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Picked a bouquet of asters from the ditch and found this bug on it a few days later. I put it on a piece of paper and brought it outside, but couldn't get it off the paper, so I brought the bouquet outside. Brought the bug on the paper over to the asters and it climbed back on. It really loved the asters! |
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Chris |
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Bill Reynolds |
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Ambush Bug |
Juvenile Ambush Bug | |
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Ambush Bug and Red-blue Checkered Beetle |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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Visitor Videos |
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Other Videos |
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Jagged Ambush Bug (Phymata americana americana) |
About
Published on Oct 20, 2016 Guest appearances by two spiders and two wasps. Music: Big Sky True Bugs (Heteroptera) » Cimicomorpha » Assassin Bugs (Reduviidae) » Ambush Bugs (Phymatinae) » Jagged Ambush Bugs (Phymata) » Phymata americana » Phymata americana americana |
Ambush Bug Bonanza |
About
Published on Aug 27, 2015 This video features an ambush bug consuming a honeybee nearly twice its size. The Ambush Bug, Phymata americana, is a member of the Assassin Bug family. Adults hang out on leaf heads of goldenrods, asters, etc., awaiting prey. When a small insect approaches, the Ambush Bug shoots out its chunky, scissor-like forelegs to secure the prey, which is then immobilized by injecting poison through its piercing mouthpart. |
Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this insect. |
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Mike Poeppe |
Location: near Houston, MN |
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| Linda C 9/11/2022 |
Location: Hutchinson MN about ¾" long on brown eyed susan |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/25/2022 |
Location: Albany, NY |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/24/2022 |
Location: Woodbury, MN |
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| Bob Payton 8/18/2022 |
Location: South Minneapolis Lunchtime! Aug, 18, 2022 |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/17/2022 |
Location: Albany, NY |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/8/2022 |
Location: Albany, NY |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/3/2022 |
Location: Albany, NY |
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| Dan W. Andree 8/3/2022 |
Location: Norman Co. Mn. August 3, 2022 on a prairie in Norman Co. Mn. Was hard to photograph the prairie flower it was on kept swaying in the breeze. |
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| Greg Watson 9/23/2021 |
Location: Apple Blossom Overlook, near La Crescent, MN |
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| Greg Watson 9/9/2021 |
Location: Eagles Bluff Park, La Crescent, MN I took these two pictures of a Jagged Ambush Bug at Eagles Bluff Park in La Crescent, MN on 9 September 2021. |
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| Luciearl 9/20/2020 |
Location: Cass County Picked a bouquet of asters from the ditch and found this bug on it a few days later. I put it on a piece of paper and brought it outside, but couldn't get it off the paper, so I brought the bouquet outside. Brought the bug on the paper over to the asters and it climbed back on. It really loved the asters! |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/2 to 8/8/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Alfredo Colon Summer 2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Chris 9/1/2019 |
Location: Apple Valley MN |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/29/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/15/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota This is a very interesting photo. The female ambush bug is feeding on a bee while the male is mating with her........ |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/12/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/8/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Alfredo Colon 8/6/2019 |
Location: Woodbury, Minnesota |
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| Dan W. Andree Summer 2018 |
Location: rural Norman Co. MN |
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| Bill Reynolds 7/23/2017 |
Location: Pennington Co MN |
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| Alfredo Colon October 2017 |
Location: Woodbury, MN |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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Created: 7/27/2017 Last Updated: © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved. |