CLOSED: YIKES!!!!!!!!!! what is this thing?

I just found this on my morning glories....its about an inch to inch and a half long. At first I thought it was a stink or assasin bug, but I really doubt it. It has a face only a mother could love, trust me!

Link to site where this information was found at end

I think you have found a:

Common Name: Wheel bug
Scientific Name: Arilus cristatus (Linnaeus)
Order: Hemiptera

The wheel bug is a type of Assassin Beetle. This Brownish-black bug is about 1 inch (25.4mm) long and looks like it is wearing a small suit of armor on its back. It has multiple eyes and long antennae which are constantly searching for pray. The distinctive semi-circular crest behind the head resembles half a cogwheel. It makes a chirping sound by rubbing the tip of the rostrum back and forth over transverse ridges on a longitudinal groove on the prosternum. When flying it produces a buzzing sound. It has two red-orange scent sacs in its anus that it will spew if its been startled or scared. The scent can be smelled by human noses, however it is not as strong a smell as the one the stink bug produces.

It is considered a beneficial insect right along with the lady bug and praying mantis. It prays on other pesty insects such as aphids, honey bees and caterpillars by holding them with its front legs, and jabbing the victim with its sharp beak. The pray is injected with paralyzing enzymes that dissolves the insides before it sucks out the body fluids.

The wheel bug lays 40-200 barrel-shaped eggs on twigs and other surfaces once a year. After the eggs are laid the female eventually dies. The eggs are cemented together in a mass that looks like a honeycomb. The eggs hatch in May - June. The hatchlings are called nymphs. Young nymphs have red and black patterns; older nymphs resemble adults but lack fully-developed wings. One generation is produced annually. Shortly after they hatch they begin looking for pray. They will molt several times as they grow. By late summer they are adults ready to mate and lay eggs. Wheel bugs have been known to eat other wheel bugs including the female eating the male after mating.

Caution should be taken around this bug as it does bite. Its bite hurts worse than a bee sting and can take months to heal. Bites are usually localized without any serious effects. Orchard workers are sometimes bitten when the bugs are shaken from trees during collection and land down shirt collars or exposed skin areas.
These bugs should be avoided; if you feel you must handle them, they should be handled with caution. Don't be too scared of wheel bugs, they move and fly slowly, and they are not going to jump out and attack you. They will only bite if they are threatened or cornered. Avoid them and they will avoid you. Remember, they eat other bugs and are considered to be very beneficial to humans.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/bugs/wheelbug.htm

I think it might be a wheel bug-Arilus, can't tell what kind. LOL

I met with an assassin bug last year and did not enjoy it much. I have a scar on my thigh. We've had several of them this year.

Cornered=sitting on one. Ahem.

ouch!

I can't tell from this picture if it has a probiscus (the little mouthpart that looks like a straw) which would tell us if it is in the hemitera order or heteroptera suborder (with stink bugs, shield bugs, etc).

Try looking through this web page:

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/

They have tons and tons of pages of bug photos

Another excellent source for information on this interesting species can be found at http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/trees/wheel_bug.htm
BTW, nearly all large assassin bugs are capable of delivering a painful 'bite' if mishandled.

What I said was worse than that. I promptly smashed it into the ground with a stick. Then I had to post here to see what it was since I smashed the evidence. I've seen several of them this year. Most are the ones with the red rears also we did see one very large, all gray one. I've yet to see one with the "wheel".

I would have said worse, too!!

here is another interesting link .... All those eyes!!! Who knew?

http://hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek030901.html

God, you guys are good, that was posted not five minutes ago. Here is a side shot of the little bugger!

The nymphs are red. Adults get the color seen here.

I just read the article from ufl.edu, it says they like butterfly larvae...........yikes that is what my whole garden is planted for. I am going to let nature take its course and not interfere. All the more reason I will continue to wear gloves while gardening! I guess it speaks to me not using chemicals only as a last resort and never broadcast spraying that I have these, and just the other day I found two praying mantis, small about 2" long and was thrilled. I thought I was going to have to buy egg caseings.

I will tell you a funny story about me buying insects.....I try not to spray like I said, soooo since we had 3 generations of web worms in Fort Worth last year, and I have 4 pecan trees in the yard that have case bearers and the web worms love the trees. I decided to buy some Tryc. wasp eggs, and while I was there I bought a container of about 300 lady beetles since I had none in the yard the year before.

Well as per the directions I took the 2" x 1" black card coated with eggs with a hole punched in it to attach to a nail in my pecan tree. As I looked away, a wind gust came up and whipped that card right off the tree into the neighbors yard. I quickly ran over to retreive it and realized it probably was not in the lawn but a large rectangle of railroad ties that used to be a garden which is now full of weeds about 2 feet tall. I looked for about 15 minutes with no luck. I just should have taken that money and thrown it out of the car window. Good news is I don't see any web worms this year, could be just dumb luck though!

Now that same night I follow directions on the lady beetle container and try to release them on plants where I usually get aphids and at night so they stay in your yard. You should have seen that...I opened the container and leaned the container into a branch so they would off load on to the plant, well that was the plan anyway. Not so easy, they started crawling up my bare arms which one or two does not bother me at all, but 20-30 at a time gave me the creepy crawlers. I walked all over the yard trying to get them to go on a leaf, branch anything but on me. After about a half hour of this they were finally all out of the container. All is well, I go to bed get up like I do every morning and walk the garden looking for my ladies................not a one to be seen. Another few dollars gone, since then I haven't seen any.