July 25th, 2006
meet the phymata
This post is long overdue. I’ve been meaning to introduce everyone to an insect that has been of long-standing interest to me. Originally, I’d planned this first piece on Ambush Bugs to be fact-filled and technical, but I’m feeling a little lazy this afternoon, so consider this to be a more personal introduction. By the way, you’ll probably being seeing quite a lot of these creatures in the coming weeks.
No, it’s not Godzilla, nor is it the Incredible Hulk in the above photo. It’s a nymph stage Ambush Bug (Phymata species), which belongs to the Family Phymatidae, which, in turn, are members of the Order Hemiptera (True Bugs). Likely as not that you’ve never actually seen one of these small characters, even though you’ve probably been within arm’s length of one on many occasions. Their camouflage is so effective that you really must look for them — although once you get the hang of it, I assure you that you’ll be seeing them everywhere you look. That’s the stage I’m at. To me, the whole world seems to be filled with Ambush bugs (and no, don’t worry, this is not a psychosis).
So, what do they look like and how will you find them?
The adults are about 1 cm. long (about 3/8 of an inch). They range in colour from green, through pale greenish-white, to yellow, to deep gold. They have a few darker markings on their bodies — with males having more dark areas than females (usually the male’s head is dark while the female’s is the same colour as her body). Females are larger than the males. The below photo is of Phymata with a pale whitish-green body. As you can see, she and the above Phymata nymph are standing on their two hind pairs of legs. Their bodies are raised in a very characteristic pose. The front pair of legs are powerful and have claw-like tibiae which are used to capture and grasp prey. Their heads and bodies have a jagged reptilian look about them.
As mentioned above, they are well camouflaged. They like to hang out atop flowers — in those places frequented by bees, wasps, hover flies, moths, and other insects attracted by the pollen or nectar. When in position, hunkered down in the middle of a yarrow flower, or Queen Anne’s Lace, or on a frond of Goldenrod, they are practically invisible (except, of course, to me). The above adult was photographed atop Queen Anne’s Lace – its white body blending with the flower. Below, I’ve posted another shot of an adult on a Brown-eyed Susan flower, and as you can see, its yellow colour closely matches that of the bloom where it has chosen to lie in wait.
Crouching patiently, they are incredibly effective “ambush” hunters and kill large numbers of insects. If you want to see just how successful they are, take a wander around through any oldfield pasture in midsummer and watch for bees, wasps, or other insects that don’t seem to be moving around over the flowers. On closer examination, you’ll probably find that the insect is in the grip of a Phymata, as in the case of this bee mimic fly that I found dangling from a Meadowsweet flower yesterday. If you look closely at the image, you should be able to find a pale green Phymata hidden within the flower, gripping the fly while feeding on its prey with its sharp proboscis.
Okay, there is plenty more that I can tell you about these insects — after all, I’ve been studying and photographing them for three or four summers — but I’ll leave it for another day. In the meantime, do take a look around and see if you can find a Phymata or two. However, one warning — Do not pick up this insect! Although it’s somewhat unlikely to bite, it is apparently capable of stabbing with it proboscis and then secreting a paralyzing saliva as is done with its prey. From what I’ve read, this substance can cause severe irritation and some tissue damage — so better to play it safe and just observe rather than handle these insects. More on the Phymata coming up sometime very soon.
Tags: Phymata, Ambush Bug
July 25th, 2006 at 9:02 pm
Just told someone (who? I can’t remember! Memory problem seem to abound these days. Sigh!) anyway, just told someone this morning that I had not seen the Ambush bugs this season and then, this afternoon, I saw one. I’ve been looking at the Queen Anne’s Lace for them as that is where I see them the most often but, yes, on other flowers too. Sometimes I find them by the odd look of their prey as they appear to look at odd angles on flowers.
July 25th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
Wow – remarkable photos. Don’t know that I’ve even seen these, but you do seem to find the most interesting things!
July 25th, 2006 at 10:55 pm
Don’t recall ever seeing these either, I will deffinitly be keeping an eye out. I did a google image search to get some more examples of what to look for, your pictures that popped up on the first page seemed to be the best ;)
July 26th, 2006 at 12:21 am
Looks like the T Rex of the insect world. Great shots.
July 26th, 2006 at 12:52 am
Fantastic pictures of fantastic critters–I’ll be peering into the Queen Anne’s Lace more diligently now!
July 26th, 2006 at 1:29 am
OW – Yes, that’s true about there being something odd looking about the prey. That’s how I find phymata when I’m walking around in the oldfield pasture here in late summer. I just watch for the prey and then look for the phymata. There are hundreds of them in the fields here, so I don’t have to try to hard to find them!
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Laura – I don’t think very many people even know of the existence of Ambush bugs, but they are quite common. You may well have some right in your own garden.
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Peter – I’m pretty sure their range is just about everywhere in Canada and the U.S. except up north, so do keep an eye out for one. And yes, I’ll bet that I have some of the better photos of them on the net. For some reason, they seem to be largely ignored. I have only put a few of my images of them up so far, but I’ve photographed hundreds of them over the years.
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Duncan – The are so reptilian or dinosaur-like. I really can’t think of another insect that falls into the same category as these fellows. There are some more surprising things about them which I will get to in another post fairly soon.
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Pamela – Thanks! They particularly like yarrow at this time of the summer, so check them for sure. I’m seeing them in Goldenrod too, and on the Brown-eyed Susans and Queen Anne’s Lace. I’ve even found several in red clover blossoms this week, so look anywhere that you see tempting flower heads.
July 26th, 2006 at 5:43 am
And this is a near relative of your bugs.
July 26th, 2006 at 10:26 am
That’s a new predator for me. I’m off to examine my Apiaceae and Asteraceae now.
It’s so funny that you mentioned the word “reptilian” because as I was looking at the photos before I saw that I was thinking “chameleon” and “reptilian”. Very handsome bugs.
July 26th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
romunov – Great shot of an Assassin bug! The ones I find here at the farm are not nearly so colorful as yours.
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Wayne – Yes, isn’t it reptilian though? So many jagged surfaces and that head!
July 27th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
I spent about 90 minutes today looking for these guys with no luck. I found all sorts of interesting insects which I will have to ID, but these ambush bugs are either not in the area where I’m looking (which I don’t believe), or they will take alot of practice to find.
I did most of my searching by closely examining flowers. Saw plenty of insects this way, must have seen 1 on every 5 flowers just about, plenty of bees taking pollen, etc. I also noticed that my low end camera is not at all suitable for taking close up photos ;)
Other then “keep trying”, which I will, any more tips you can offer? How populated are they, as in, are you likely to find one in a group of wild flowers growing in a square meter area or do you often wander around more to find one?
July 27th, 2006 at 7:10 pm
Peter – Just in case I’m sending you on a wild goose chase, I’ve just posed the question of whether there are Phymatidae in NS on the natureNS listserv. I’ve been assuming that there must be as they are supposed to have a very large range, but you can’t take such things for granted when it comes to insects. I have probably seen them there, but can’t actually be sure of that, so best to ask before you strain your eyes looking for them! (-:
However, it sounds as though your insect searching session was productive regardless.
Regarding population density, that kind of depends on habitat. In a true “old field” habitat of goldenrod, yarrow, Queen Anne’s lace, clover, St. Johnswort, etc… I would definitely expect to find at least one or two per square meter or so. In a good field, there would often be at least one phymata sitting atop every decent-sized flower by about late July. Before that, they are a little less conspicuous due to size and coloration. Once we’re into August, they start to be even more conspicuous as the males perch on the females’ backs (pretty much constantly — they’re almost like big parasites). I’ll write more about that behaviour in a post… perhaps I should do that right now as I haven’t figured out what I’ll write about today! (-:
July 27th, 2006 at 7:47 pm
Thanks Bev. I see both your question and Chris Majka’s reply, so my search is not futile. I’ll try again tomorrow probably, I enjoy the walks either way. I will try and go off the path a little more in certain spots where I won’t be trampling on other plants too much.
Thanks for the help!
July 27th, 2006 at 7:48 pm
Peter – Just received a reply from Christopher Majka from the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History. He says they have two species present — Phymata americana americana, and Phymata pennsylvanica. He says he’s not sure how widespread or abundant they are in Nova Scotia. Might be worth keeping some location records if you come across a good number of them somewhere.
July 27th, 2006 at 7:51 pm
Peter – Aha! I see you already got the message. Great! (-: Btw, if you’re off in the grass, do take some precautions if you’re along the south shore at all. We picked up some Wood ticks at a couple of locations while hiking down around Shelburne. We’ve never had problems with them on the Chignecto side of Fundy, but have run into them a bit in the Annapolis Valley in the past as well.
July 27th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
My search was in the “Halifax Common Park”, which is about a 5 minute walk from my home.
Thanks for the tick warning, which leads me to a couple more questions. Do you feel them attach or do they require examaning yourself to see them? and whats the best method to remove them?
Here is a google sat link to the area I am searching for the Ambushers.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=halifax&ie=UTF8&t=k&om=1&ll=44.646765,-63.652596&spn=0.010579,0.026951
As you can see, it is pretty surrounded by developed areas, but it is pretty “large” area that can be explored for insects, atleast “not bad” sized for not living in a rural area!
July 27th, 2006 at 8:14 pm
[…] Picking up where I left off a couple of days ago, I’ll write a bit more about Phymata (Ambush bugs). […]
July 27th, 2006 at 8:16 pm
Oh and regarding the ListServ, one of the fellows mentioned coastal errosion in the August National Geographic that they were discussing. Well, that issue also had a moth photo that very much reminded me of a photo you posted a few weeks ago near the front of the magazine. I’m not sure if it is on shelves yet, but check it out when you have a chance. If you are a subscriber… well you probably have seen it already ;)
July 27th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Peter – Regarding the ticks, no, you don’t usually feel them on you. I happened to look down and saw one on my shin and brushed it off — when they first get on you, they usually get on your foot or ankle and crawl upwards. The adults look like black spiders. Nymph stage ones are smaller, have only 6 and not 8 legs, and are pretty small and difficult to see. It takes them about a day to really fasten themselves to you. First they secrete a kind of adhesive that helps them stick to you, and then they begin to slowly bite into the skin. So, if you’re vigilant, you can easily remove them while they are at the stage where they’re just crawling about or sticking themselves to you. I’ve just pulled them away using an handiwipe. Once they attach (and hopefully they don’t!), the usual recommendation is to use a pair of tweezers and get hold of the head parts and pull gently and steadily out and away from the puncture site. Don’t squeeze the abdomen of the tick as that can cause it to inject its contents into the wound, and if it’s carrying Lyme Disease or any of a couple of other tick-borne diseases, there is a greater chance of infection. Don’t do any of the “old time remedies” such as putting vaseline on the tick, or burning it with a flame, etc… Those also may cause the tick to inject infected blood into the wound. The main thing is to be sure you got the mouth parts out when you pulled the tick away. In Nova Scotia, you can send ticks to one of the government departments and they’ll check it for Lyme and other diseases (probably a good idea if you were ever to find that one had been feeding on you). In fact, I think they’re encouraging residents to send in ticks that they find along with locationcollected, so that they can keep tabs on whether there’s much Lyme around, etc… Btw, there was quite a lot of discussion on this subject on natureNS about 4 to 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately, I don’t think they have a permanent archive for their articles. But if you have particular questions about the ticks, just post them to the group and you would surely get a response. The place where we found many ticks when we were along the south shore was in a place called Port L’Hebert Pocket Wilderness. I got one on me in there, and our dog had 4 on her when we checked her back at the parking lot after.
I can’t get google maps to work for me on this computer, but I think I know exactly which park you mean. If there is goldenrod, daisies, Brown-eyed Susan, yarrow, and Queen Anne’s Lace in abundance, I would think you could find Phymata if they are there.
July 27th, 2006 at 8:32 pm
Peter — PS.. I shall check National Geographic for the moth photo!
September 12th, 2006 at 12:53 pm
Two weeks ago, while working in my flower garden, I felt a sharp pain in my back. I thought I had been stung by a bee, but immediately felt a second sting. Whipping off my shirt, I found an ambush bug hanging on to the fabric for dear life. Returning her to her butterfly bush, I felt my back and discovered it to be bloody. It looked like I had been bitten by a vampire: there were two wounds oozing blood, about an inch apart. Each wound was swollen up with a bump about the size of a dime. The bites hurt for several hours, and I still have marks on my back. After looking through various sources, I believe it was an adult female jagged ambush bug.
September 12th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Don – I was bitten by either an Ambush Bug or a Stink Bug a couple of years ago while photographing spiders. I’m not sure which as the insect rolled out of the shirt sleeve and fell to the ground before I had a chance to look at it. The bite was on the front of my shoulder in the space just below the end of my collarbone. The pain was fairly intense for a couple of minutes — I’d describe it as a “searing pain” as though being burned by something like battery acid (I was once burned on the leg by battery acid and the sensation was very similar). There was no real bleeding, but the entire area swelled up — probably an area about 2-3 inches in diameter and the shoulder felt stiff for a couple of days. Although the swelling subsied, there was some pain in that spot for a few weeks and there was also a lump there for a long time. As both predatory Stink Bugs and Ambush Bugs are supposed to be able to inject a kind of saliva that dissolves the body tissues of the insects they are consuming, I would think that stuff would do some kind of damage to human tissue as well. However, the good news is that, in time, the lump went away and no more pain. I’m not sure if the insect bit me in an attempt to feed, or if it got into my clothes and the bite was some kind of fear response to make me “release” it as is often the reason that spiders bite when they become trapped in our clothing. Whatever, I don’t wish to repeat the “experiment” anytime soon! (-:
May 25th, 2007 at 1:36 pm
I clicked on the picture with the fuzzy bee-like spider photo. I appreciate the info but the picture is not here as stated…Is it one in the same?
May 25th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
Which photo, Coral? Do you mean this one? If so, the phymata is there, but it’s inside the flower, hanging upside down, with the fuzzy fly gripped with its front legs. It’s quite pale green, so not easily seen.