I posted this "unknown trifle" a week ago with the hope that someone might be able to identify the odd little thing. The photo was taken by Sue Wagoner in Illinois.
Sue heard from an entomologist who taught a class she once attended. Here is his reply:
It's an "Ambush bug (in the Reduviidae family of the Hemiptera order). They get their name from sitting on flowers (most common on goldenrod) and 'ambushing' pollinators such as flies, moths, bees, wasps, etc. They often attack prey many times their size. In fact on more than one occasion, I have wondered why a butterfly wasn't moving on a flower only to look closely and see it was being eaten by an ambush bug! They don't show in the photo, but their front legs are raptorial (almost like a preying mantis)."
It seems that every rose may have its thorn but Queen Anne may have her assassin.
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