Ant-defense

Guides

• Apiomerus flaviventris

  Yellow-bellied Bee Assassin, bee assassin bug

  Apiomerus flaviventris is a predatory assassin bug in the family Reduviidae, commonly known as the yellow-bellied bee assassin. This species is notable for its specialized feeding habits targeting bees and its remarkable use of plant-derived chemical defenses. Females collect resin from brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) and apply it to their eggs as a protective barrier against predation, particularly by ants. The species inhabits arid and semiarid regions of southwestern North America.

  assassin-bugbee-predatorresin-collectionchemical-defenseparental-carekleptoparasitismReduviidaeHarpactorinaeApiomerusHemipteraarid-habitatsouthwestern-North-AmericaEncelia-farinosabrittlebushegg-protectionant-defenseflower-ambush-predator

• Scymnus creperus

  dusky lady beetle

  Scymnus creperus is a small dusky lady beetle (Coccinellidae: Scymnini) native to North America. Adults measure 1.76–2.68 mm and display distinctive coloration: yellowish-red head and pronotum with a small black spot, and black elytra with red apices. The species is notable for its larval defense mechanism—secretion of a sticky white wax from integument pores that reduces aggression by the imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta. It preys on aphids and has been documented feeding on the bird cherry-oat aphid Rhopalosiphum padi.

  coccinellidbiological-controlant-defensewax-secretionaphid-predator