Insects and Spiders - Thread-legged Bug
Emesaya brevipennis
The blue arrow is pointing to where I found this Thread-legged Bug while looking for fungus. If it weren't for its angular body shape, I would never have noticed it.
Almost 3 weeks later, I checked on the bug and was surprised to find it still there and still alive. In cold December! So I got it to climb onto my hand and we took a step out into the sun for a photo-shoot!
I think that leg span is longer than the bug itself is.
Thread-legged bugs walk on their mid and hind legs; the front pair is raptorial, meaning they use them for catching food. Some groups of thread-legged bugs eat mostly spiders.
Left front leg, forward!
Right front leg, forward!
True bugs have sucking mouthparts. This one has its proboscis folded under its head. (Enlarged in next photo.)
The functioning is a little more complicated, but basically the proboscis works like using a straw. Bug mouth parts diagram copyright 1997-2020, Amateur Entomologists' Society.
The bug looks almost like a dried reed or piece of grass. The inset shows the leg attachments.
The tail end.
More than 6 weeks later, the bug was still there, although it had moved up the tree trunk a little.
