True Bug ID, Albuquerque, NM

Stugy

Arachnolord
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Apr 21, 2016
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649
Found this guy on the front porch of my grandparents house lol. I really hope it is an assassin bug! The pic is pretty bad but the bug does have the beak thing (pro.. pronotum?). Will try to get a side pic in a bit if needed.
 

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Lucanus95

Arachnoknight
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Jan 21, 2013
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I've raised this species before (in fact I still have some F1 adults) and I've had success feeding them store bought crickets as well as roaches ;)
 

Stugy

Arachnolord
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Apr 21, 2016
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Checking out pictures and my assassin, he/she looks way more like Apiomerus flaviventris. :/
 

Smokehound714

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Checking out pictures and my assassin, he/she looks way more like Apiomerus flaviventris. :/
flaviventris doesn't occur in texas, it's endemic to the sonoran mojave and colorado deserts. Your bee assassin is definitely spissipes
 

Stugy

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flaviventris doesn't occur in texas, it's endemic to the sonoran mojave and colorado deserts. Your bee assassin is definitely spissipes
1. I wasn't in Texas, I was in New Mexico. And 2. The assassin I have looks nothing like the spissipes. :p Unless it happens to be a nymph but I kinda doubt it in a way. I very much do appreciate your help though ;)
 

Smokehound714

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Er my bad i meant to say NM I was identifying texan species right before this.

This is definitely spissipes. Again, flaviventris doesnt occur that far east.
 

Stugy

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Apr 21, 2016
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Er my bad i meant to say NM I was identifying texan species right before this.

This is definitely spissipes. Again, flaviventris doesnt occur that far east.
So it's probably a nymph then? It's even has it's wings too and I've seen it attempt to fly a few times.
 

Lucanus95

Arachnoknight
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Jan 21, 2013
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While @Smokehound714 is wrong about the range of A. flaviventris (they've been reported from NM and TX according to the revision, though TX record looks dubious), this is clearly a western variation of A. spissipes. It appears that spissipes from west TX to AZ have much more vivid red coloration that their eastern counterpart. While they do resemble flaviventris, their yellow coloration isn't as intense as in flaviventris so it's quite easy to tell them apart if you have "trained eye".
 
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RTTB

Arachnoprince
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Dec 4, 2016
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It's a very cool find. Can they be kept communally?
 
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