Assassin bug on eryngo

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Here’s an assassin bug, Apiomerus spissipes, on a flowering eryngo, Eryngium leavenworthii. Do you see the appendage that’s folded back under the insect’s head? When the assassin bug attacks its prey, it unfolds that appendage and uses it to pierce the victim’s body and suck out what’s inside. Say gruesome and you won’t be wrong.

If you can take your eyes off this fierce and colorful predator, especially if the previous two sentences make you all the more eager to change the subject, you may want to look at the lower left corner of the photograph for a good view of the eryngo’s stamens and their bluish-purple anthers.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman