Assassin Bug Enjoys Leaf-Cutter Bee for Lunch

Photo of a bright red assassin bug attacking a black leaf-cutter bee on an Asclepiad plant
Red Assassin Bug Attacks a Black Leaf-Cutter Bee

It was almost lunch time on a morning in late August. We were walking on the rocky ground near Palo Verde Canyon when we noticed the fruit and flowers of a tall Milkweed plant, Asclepias subulata. Since a person doesn't see many flowering plants in the desert in the August heat, we decided to take a closer look.

There were insects on the flowers, mostly black bees or flies, and one long red milkweed bug of some sort. Our first thought was that the bug and the bee it was holding were dead, died of thirst and starvation in the hot desert sun. Only after we looked at them for several minutes was there any motion. One tiny black leg slowly moved.

Assassin Bug Has the Tools to Get Around the Leaf-Cutter Bee's Armor

The big red bug, it turned out, was an Assassin Bug, and now it went to work, pulling and twisting its victim, a Leaf-cutter Bee, forcing its straw-like mouthparts between the bee's heavily armored segments to suck up the black insect's gooey innards. The bee thorax and head are built like tanks.

Leaf-cutter bees are different from other bees because the scopa (where they carry pollen) is on the underside of the belly.

Photo of Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata
Rush Milkweed, Asclepias subulata

See also: Wildlife Reports from ABDNHA