Pennsylvania ambush bug
Phymata pennsylvanica
The Pennsylvania ambush bug is a small bug that hides and waits on flowers. When an insect comes to visit, it grabs it with its strong front legs. It lives in North America.
Lives in
North America, on flowers in meadows and gardens
Can it hurt you?
Can bite
It can give a sharp bite if you pick it up. Watch it on its flower instead.
What does it eat?
It catches insects that visit flowers, such as a common hoverfly.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
Pennsylvania ambush bug about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
It does not chase its food. It sits still and waits for it to come close.
2
It is known to catch a common little hoverfly.
3
It belongs to the assassin bug family, a family of hunting bugs.
you asked
Most asked questions about Pennsylvania ambush bug
?Does the Pennsylvania ambush bug bite?
It can bite if you handle it, so it is best just to watch it.
?What does the Pennsylvania ambush bug eat?
It eats insects that land on flowers, like hoverflies.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Phymata pennsylvanica
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Reduviidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Reduviidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Pennsylvania jagged ambush bug
Where the facts come from
- Phymata pennsylvanica (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 IronChris. 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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