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1. kho (kho@shitposter.club)'s status on Thursday, 19-Oct-2023 22:52:20 JST kho

   in reply to
   🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
   
   Adult wheel bugs (Arilus cristatus) are large (1 to 1-1/2 inches long) light gray to grayish-brown distinctive-looking insects. They get their name from the prominent cog-like toothed ‘wheel’ on their thorax (there can be 8-12 teeth/tubercles on this wheel). They are the only insects in Illinois (or the U.S.) to have such a structure. They also have beak-like mouthparts that arise from the front of their head, which some think resembles an elephant's trunk.
   
   Wheel bugs are a type of assassin bug (family Reduviidae), so they are predators. They have raptorial front legs (like praying mantids) that they will use to grab prey. Once they have captured their prey, they insert their mouthparts into their prey and inject their saliva, which contains chemicals that paralyze the prey and begin digesting it. They will then suck out the ‘juices’ of the insect, like drinking a juice box.
   
   They are generalist predators, meaning they will feed on a wide variety of different insects. They can commonly be found feeding on pests like caterpillars, beetles, sawfly larvae, aphids, and stink bugs, among others. In fact, wheel bugs are one of the few insects that will feed on the invasive brown marmorated stink bug.