Ben Caruthers sent me this great shot of a little black corsair bug which he identified and sent in to Bugguide. "It was walking across my patio. I don't remember seeing one in this stage before. It looks a little like a watermelon sliced in half. I think this may be an adult female."
I would agree that it is a female. BugEric says: "This species exhibits what is called sexual dimorphism. Males are fully winged and are strong fliers. Females usually lack hind wings and have the front wings reduced to mere pads, though there are exceptions. They are nocturnal like the males." Compare this to the top photo.
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| Ankle weights on the front two pair of legs - Ben Caruthers |
He goes on to describe its distinctive "ankle weights or leg warmers" on the tibia or shins of the front two pair of legs. Now look at the legs above. This is a dense pad of hairs that exude a film of oil, allowing "the bug to chase prey over slick substrates, cling to struggling victims and grip a mate in the case of males."
The black corsair, Melanolestes picipes, is also called the black May beetle-eater, a name reminiscent of the "purple people eater" of musical fame. It is a species of corsair in the Reduviidae
family. More famous for the assassin bugs, most family members are
ambush predators, stabbing prey and injecting digestive juices before
sucking out the nutrition. As you may have guessed, they feed on May beetles, Phyllophaga, attacking them from behind, holding on with spongy pads on the legs.
Like assassin bugs in general, you don't want to make them mad. The males in particular are attracted to lights, probably because prey insects are also attracted there. The corsairs can administer a painful defensive bite that you will long remember.
