Wandering yesterday through the marshy area of Huntley Meadows Park, I spotted a large bug perched near the top of one of the cattails. I could not really see for sure what it was and it flew away as soon as I took one photo. When I opened the image on my computer, I saw that I had captured an image of a strange-looking bug that seemed to have the blade of a circular saw embedded in its back.
It did not take much of a search on the internet for me to discover that it is a wheel bug (Arilus cristatus). The University of Florida Entomology Department website notes that the wheel bug is an assassin bug that administers a very painful bite, described as worse than the bite of a bee, wasp, or hornet. Wheel bug saliva contains a toxic, paralytic substance that immobilizes and kills its victims (caterpillars, bees, aphids, and other insects) usually within 15 to 30 seconds after injection.
Personally, I think this insect looks like a miniature dinosaur or something out of a low-budget science fiction movie. In any case, it is certainly one of the strangest looking creatures that I have ever encountered.
Wheel bug surveys the situation from a cattail
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 