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Wheel Bug

uncommon

Wheel Bug

Arilus cristatus

Habitat
Woodlands, gardens and fields across the eastern and southern United States
Body length
30 mm
Order
Hemiptera · Reduviidae

Weird but real

It wears a spiky cogwheel on its back like a stegosaurus, and its stab hurts worse than a hornet sting.

Why it's cool

A tank-shaped assassin that impales caterpillars and liquefies them — the buzzsaw crest is pure nightmare-fuel elegance.

Photographs

Mothing in the backyard
Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren · CC BY 2.0 · source
The wheel bug...of death. A very large bug whose impales other insects, injects liquids that dissolve the insides f the insect, and then sucks it back up. I have wondered, what if we used these same chemicals as tenderizers for meat or perhaps, if one were to get more into eating
USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab from Beltsville, Maryland, USA · Public domain · source