Diet

• Adults: Predatory, feeding primarily on bees, wasps, flies and other insects that visit flowers. They seize prey with their strong forelegs and pierce it with their tubular beak, injecting saliva that begins digesting the prey before the liquefied contents are consumed.

• Nymphs: Also predatory, feeding on smaller insects and other arthropods.

• Like other Apiomerus, adults may collect plant resin and apply it to their bodies. Resin can help make prey stick to the assassin bug and may also provide protection against predators.

Range

• Apiomerus longispinis is a bee assassin bug in the family Reduviidae, subfamily Harpactorinae, tribe Apiomerini.

• The species occurs in Mexico and Central America, particularly in warm tropical and subtropical habitats.

• It is occasionally sighted in Zihua, where flowering vegetation provides both hunting sites and an abundance of insect prey..

Habitat

• Found in tropical dry forest, tropical deciduous forest, woodland, scrub, forest edges, gardens and flowering vegetation.

• Adults often position themselves on flowers, leaves and stems, where they wait for bees and other insects to approach.

• Around Zihua, look carefully at flowering trees, shrubs and vines, particularly plants attracting large numbers of bees.

• They may remain motionless for long periods before rapidly grabbing a passing insect.

Size

• Adult length: approximately 15–20 mm (0.6–0.8 in).

• Body robust and elongated, with strong forelegs adapted for grasping prey.

• Predominantly black or very dark brown, with a contrasting reddish-brown or orange abdomen in some individuals.

• The species is characterised by prominent spines and projections, particularly around the thorax and abdomen.

• The long, conspicuous spines are reflected in the species name longispinis, meaning “long-spined.”