Jagged ambush bugs

Overview

Phymata is a genus of ambush bugs known as jagged ambush bugs. There are 109 described species of jagged ambush bugs worldwide, 17 species in North America north of Mexico, and just 2 species in Minnesota. A much needed revision of this genus would probably result in many fewer species. Jagged ambush bugs are found on flowers in open and semi-open areas. The feed on small insects and other arthropods, including bumble bees, wasps, and flies, sometimes capturing prey much larger than themselves.

Description

Most adults are 5 ⁄16″ to ½″ (8 to 12 mm) in length. They are well camouflaged with dark markings on a greenish-yellow or brownish-yellow ground color. The antennae have four segments and are slightly thickened at the end. The protruding mouthparts (beak) is short, has three segments, and is optimized for sucking. The exoskeletal plate between the wing bases (scutellum) is triangular and much shorter than the plate covering the thorax (pronotum). The abdomen is diamond-shaped, widest toward the rear, and has a flattened, greatly enlarged margin. The hardened forewings (elytra) are held flat when at rest and cover only the middle of the abdomen. leaving the sides exposed. The third segment (femur) of the front legs is swollen with muscles that allow it to seize and hold prey.

Distribution

Sources

24, 27, 30, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 7/14/2026).

Phymata Latreille, 1802 in Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Abreu, C., Acero P, A., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-06-19 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgy8b