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Sticker of Ant damselbug
Bug card No. 0111 of 4,939

Ant damselbug

Himacerus mirmicoides
Name means: “ant-like, because its young look like ants”
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsTrue bugs and cicadasGardens and meadows6 legs

The ant damselbug is a small brown bug with orange red spots along the edges of its body. Its wings are short and reddish. When it is young, it looks so much like an ant that you could easily mix them up.

Lives in
Most of Europe, on the ground and in low plants in dry open places
Length
7 to 8 mm (0.28 to 0.31 in)
Top speed
about 0.16 km/h (0.1 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people.
What does it eat?
Like other damsel bugs, it hunts small insects and sucks out their juices.
For real!Photo of Ant damselbug
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Ant damselbug about 8 mm long (0.31 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 22 seconds

How big is Ant damselbug compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its babies have a pale band on the body that looks just like an ant's thin waist.

2

Grown-up bugs can be found all year round.

3

The mothers lay eggs in spring, and the new bugs are grown up by August.

you asked

Most asked questions about Ant damselbug

?Why is it called the ant damselbug?

Because its young look very much like ants.

?How big is the ant damselbug?

About 7 to 8 millimetres long.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Himacerus mirmicoides
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Nabidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Nabidae
Lives on
Europe
Also known as
Ant damsel bug

Where the facts come from

  1. Himacerus mirmicoides (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. 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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