Matador bug
The matador bug is a leaf-footed bug with big, colourful flags on its back legs. They make it look a bit like a bullfighter with a colourful cape. The bright flags are a warning to birds: do not eat me, I taste terrible.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It gets its poison from the passionflower plants it eats.
For birds and other animals with backbones, eating one can be very bad or even deadly.
Scientists once thought another bug was a separate species, but it turned out to be the matador bug too.
Most asked questions about Matador bug
?Is the matador bug poisonous?
Yes, to animals that try to eat it, like birds. It gets the poison from passionflower plants. It does not sting people.
?Why does the matador bug have flags on its legs?
The bright flags warn birds that it tastes bad and is poisonous.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Bitta alipes
- Named by
- Guérin-Méneville, 1833
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Coreidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Coreidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
Where the facts come from
- Bitta alipes (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Dirk van der Made. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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