Hemiptera (Heteroptera): Phymatidae

Identification
• These small, stout-bodied bugs have raptorial (grasping) front legs, a wide rear-end, and cryptic coloration.

Host Range
• All known species are predatory and usually feed on large bees, wasps, butterflies, and flies.

Life cycle
• Ambush bugs have incomplete metamorphosis (nymphs similar to adults).
• All stages feed by grabbing prey with their front legs, jabbing it with sucking mouthparts, injecting an enzyme that digests the body contents of the prey, and sucking the predigested fluid from the prey.

Other information
• Ambush bugs will eat beneficial pollinators as well as other insects that visit flowers.
• Their name refers to the way they lie in wait for their prey, usually camouflaged in the flower.