Jagged ambush bug
The jagged ambush bug is a little bug that hides on flowers and waits. When a bee, fly or moth comes to drink nectar, it grabs it with its big, strong front legs. It often picks flowers that match its own colours, so it is very hard to spot.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It likes yellow and blue flowers better than red or white ones.
Females are bigger than males and have bigger grabbing legs, so they catch bigger prey.
Darker males warm up faster in the sun, which helps them in cool places.
Bugs that get more food grow darker.
Most asked questions about Jagged ambush bug
?What does the jagged ambush bug eat?
It catches small bees, moths and flies that visit flowers.
?Where does the jagged ambush bug hide?
It sits on flowers, often ones that match its colours, and waits for insects.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Phymata americana
- Group
- True bugs and cicadas
- Family
- Reduviidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Hemiptera > Reduviidae
- Lives on
- North America
- Also known as
- Ambush bug
Where the facts come from
- Phymata americana (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 xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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