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Sticker of Yellow-bellied bee assassin
Bug card No. 4890 of 4,939

Yellow-bellied bee assassin

Apiomerus flaviventris
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsTrue bugs and cicadasDeserts and dry places6 legs

The yellow-bellied bee assassin is a bug that hunts bees. It lives in the dry, sunny lands of south-western North America. Its mothers have a clever trick to keep their eggs safe.

Lives in
Dry deserts and scrubland of south-western North America
Top speed
about 0.2 km/h (0.12 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite
It can give a painful bite, like a bee sting, if you grab it. Watch it from a little distance and do not pick it up.
What does it eat?
It catches bees and feeds on them.
For real!Photo of Yellow-bellied bee assassin
Picture by ALAN SCHMIERER. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The mother collects sticky resin from a desert plant called brittlebush.

2

She smears the resin on her eggs, which helps protect them from hungry ants.

3

It belongs to the assassin bugs, a family of bugs that hunt other insects.

you asked

Most asked questions about Yellow-bellied bee assassin

?What does the yellow-bellied bee assassin eat?

Bees. It is a hunter that catches them.

?Can a bee assassin bite?

Yes, it can give a painful bite if you grab it. Just look at it and do not pick it up.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Apiomerus flaviventris
Group
True bugs and cicadas
Family
Reduviidae
Classification
Insecta > Hemiptera > Reduviidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Apiomerus flaviventris (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 ALAN SCHMIERER. CC0, 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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