What kind of BUG is this!?????

[Nifty-Chicken]

I'm going with wheelbug based on the images below:

http://images.google.com/images?sou...ADBR_enUS254US254&q=wheelbug&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

 

[65browneyes]

I just have to tell you that I don't 'do' bugs AT ALL. Never have, they make my skin crawl. But, I read this thread with earnest last night, considering it a great learning experience, with the intention of filing the info away in the archives of my brain.

Then, IT happened..........I went to bed, and had a DREAM about the dumb things!!




note to self: never read 'bug threads' before bed again.

 

[lacyloo]

I know what kind of bug it is...... and ugly one

 

[Southern28Chick]

Not a stink bug that's for sure.

This is a species of assassin bug aka wheel bug according to all the previous posts. We just call them assassin bugs here.

WHEEL BUG
GENUS and SPECIES: Arilus cristatus
The most commonly seen assassin bug in Kentucky is probably the Wheel Bug, Arilus cristatus, pictured below. At 1 1/2", this silver-gray insect is the largest assassin bug that lives in Kentucky. It gets its name from the structure on its thorax which resembles a gear or saw blade. The wheel bug is notorious for its painful bite, but it only bites on accident or if handled carelessly. The nymph of the wheel bug is pictured above.

Scroll up and click on Wheel Bug http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/insects/bugs/assassin/assassin.htm#spined

Nearly 3000 species of assassin bugs exist and scientists feel that many more will be discovered. These insects can be commonly found throughout most of the world. They vary in size from a few millimeters to as much as 3 or 4 centimeters. They come in many colors and shapes and most species have two pairs of wings. However, ALL assassin bugs have a powerful, curved rostrum, or beak, that they use to pierce and suck out the tissues of their prey.

We have them everywhere around here.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2082.html
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/NE/assassin_bugs.html

Stink bugs are flat and they don't have the wheel type thingy on the base of their heads.
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/imagegal/hemiptera/stinkbug/3938.1stinkbug.html​

 

[justusnak]

Oh jeesh....I just know I will see them everywhere this summer. This thing is pretty good size, and really freaked me out. I guess I will be ok, as long as I dont touch it..and TRUST ME..I WONT!

 

[SpottedCrow]

then I'll tell you the story of my son when he was maybe 8. He saw this insect walking across the lawn and just had to pick it up. Of course it bit him...So I scooped it up and ran across the street to Mr. Joe's who knew everything. I asked him" Is it poisonous and What is it?"
Since Mike's 14 now it wasn't poisonous. LOL and it was a Lacewing...

http://www.gardenseeker.com/images/LacewingIN.JPG

and they're beneficial...so it was released in the garden.

 

[Southern28Chick]

Quote:
What a beautiful creature! Glad your son survived the attack.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Quote:
i was never bit by one of those. though if you pick them up by the wings they stink