''Psyttala horrida'' is an insect in the
assassin bug genus ''
Psyttala
''Psyttala'' is a genus of insects belonging to the assassin bugs. The name is commonly misspelled as ''Psytalla'' (e.g.).
Species
* ''Psyttala ducalis'' (Westwood, 1845)
* ''Psyttala dudgeoni'' Distant, 1919
* ''Psyttala horrida'' (Stål, ...
''. It is commonly called the horrid king assassin bug or giant spiny assassin bug, and the scientific name is commonly misspelled as ''Psytalla''.
Distribution
This species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to tropical western Africa, from
Togo
Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...
to
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
.
Description
''Psyttala horrida'' can reach a body length of .
[Arthropodus - Fiche d’élevage des punaises assassines des genres ''Platymeris'' et ''Psytalla'' (Réduves africaines, Reduviidae)]
/ref> and over in private collections. It is the largest species of assassin bug in the world. These large and sturdy built insects are characterized by an elongated head, a relatively narrow neck and a rigid, prominent, segmented, tubular mouthparts or proboscis
A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...
(also called rostrum). Antennae are long and thin. The basic color of the body is black. They show a very prominent crown of thorns on thorax and red and black warning colors on the edge of the abdomen (laterotergites). On the hemelytra are present a few red markings. Legs are rather long, with red and black femurs and completely red tibiae. This species presents an evident sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...
. In fact the underside of the female's abdomen is completely smooth, while the males at the end of the abdomen have a round outgrowth.[
]
Biology and behavior
Females lay their eggs in the substrate a few weeks after mating. The incubation may last four to six weeks. The young insects at birth measure about five millimeters. They have a red thorax and abdomen and yellow legs. The chest turns black within a few days. The growth lasts between six and eight months and the young will make six moults to reach the adult stage. Adults live on average one to two years.[Bugaj-Nawrocka et al. (2022) Psyttala horrida (Stål, 1865) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Reduviinae)—A Morphological Study of Eggs and Nymphs. Insects, 13(11), 1014; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13111014]
/ref>
These terrestrial ambush predators live hidden in timber or dead trees during the day, coming out at night[ to feed on their prey, that they kill with the venom injected by their rigid rostrum. They can also spray a noxious fluid.
]
References
External links
Roach Crossing
Flickr
Galerie-insecte
Reduviidae
Insects described in 1865
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