English Common Name: None; Name translates to "Striped Assassin Bug"
Japanese Name (Katakana): シマサシガメ
Pronunciation: Shima-sashigame
Size: Body length of 13 - 16 mm
Special ID Features: The body is mostly black with white (or sometimes yellowish) stripes on legs and the edge of abdomen. A similar species, Rhynocoris leucospilus (モンシロサシガメ), doesn’t have white-striped legs. However, some S. impressicollis insects have blackened legs, which makes the identification slightly harder.
Distributions and Habitats: Distributed in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu on fields and mountains. Often found on grass leaves and trees.
More About This Species: Unlike most species in the order Hemiptera (True Bugs), it is a carnivorous species that likes to feed on leaf beetles and ladybug beetles. Instead of chewing, it inserts the proboscis into the prey's body and sucks its body fluid.
Almost all assassin bugs (of the family Reduviidae) are carnivorous, and large species must be handled with caution as it can stab humans with its proboscis and cause extreme pain.
View our insect and arachnid species lists and other species posts!
References:
Title: 日本の昆虫1400 (1) チョウ・バッタ・セミ (ポケット図鑑) (Nihon no Konchu 1400 (1) Chou, Batta, Semi (Poketto Zukan))
Authors: 高井 幹夫, 奥山 清市, 長島 聖大, 井村 仁平, 槐 真史, 伊丹市昆虫館
Publishing Date and Publisher: (2013/4/15), 文一総合出版
Language: Japanese
Title: About Heteroptera (2)
URL: http://www.city.nagoya.jp/kenkofukushi/page/0000005537.html
Publishing Date and Publisher: 2013/5/1, Nagoya City
Photography by Taiga Araki
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