Jagged Ambush Bug

I mentioned several days ago that I'd finally found one of these interesting little insects in the garden and that you should stay tuned to this space.  So, here he is - isn't he fine looking?  If you look at this in large you will see that his front legs are almost crab-like with a claw. This is used to grasp his prey (up to 10 times larger than him, btw) and hold it still while he injects it with a liquefying toxin.  Their name comes from the fact that they literally sit around and wait for prey to come within striking range.  They also have the ability to change color to match their surroundings, allowing them to basically be invisible to their prey ...until it is too late.  A few days ago, I found this same species on some goldenrod and it was bright yellow - see Extra.  

One word of caution about ambush and assassin bugs - the toxin that they use to liquefy their prey is also quite painful if injected into a human finger.  Or so I've been told...

Biggest shock of the day was when I looked out the window and saw ... a hummingbird!  This is very late in the year for them to be migrating through this area.  She was at the feeder (I always leave one out until November ... just in case) and when I looked closely at the shot I snapped through the window I realized that she had some sort of injury to her eye.  Which may explain her late migration.  She's hanging around the garden right now drinking nectar and hitting some of the flowers.  Hopefully she'll be on her way soon as we have a frost warning on for tonight.

Hubs has had several good interviews this week.  MIL seems to be doing fine after her fall and brief visit to the hospital earlier this week.  As for me, I did my 3rd day at the gym for the week this morning.  So, all is well in our world.

Happy Friday!

xo
Debbi