Treebeard`s Photos

Exhibit A shows a beautiful immature Assassin Bug in the Reduviidae family of the order Hemiptera. It's tiny - only a few mm across. It's related to the infamous vinchuca "kissing bugs", but I'm pretty sure its prey are other insects, not humans. (San Marcos Pass, 7 July 2009)

What's remarkable is that it's an almost perfect mimic of the immature Katydid (family Tettigoniidae in the order Orthoptera) that I show two photos [Back] in exhibit C. Both have spider-like legs and long black-and-white speckled antennae. But the close shot in exhibit B in my [Previous] photo shows that it's something else!

I admit this critter fooled me. At first I thought "what a tiny katydid nymph" and didn't realize I had something else until I got it on my computer screen.

Heh - it's also got a neat pair of faux "eye-spots" on the tip of its abdomen!

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