This alydid bug is a mimic of the ant Camponotus sericeiventris. Notice how the light bands on the waist provide the illusion of a narrow ant petiole.

Morretes, Paraná, Brazil
A nearly blind Acropyga goeldii worker ant tends to root-feeding mealybugs in an underground chamber. The ants depend on their hemipteran "cattle" for food, while the mealybugs are kept safe from predators and carried to new roots by their ant guards.

Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
The adult form of this treehopper (bottom left) mimics the abdomen of the Cephalotes atratus ants that tend it for honeydew.

Morretes, Paraná, Brazil
A worker ant (Technomyrmex difficilis) tending aphids.

Orlando, Florida, USA
A worker ant (Technomyrmex difficilis) tending aphids.

Orlando, Florida, USA
A young leaf-footed bug (Coreidae).

Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
An ant-mimicking bug tastes a seed in an Australian rainforest. Note how light patches on the bug's body give the false impression of a narrow ant waist and neck.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
A flightless flat bug, Chelonoderus sp., from the northern Australian rain forests.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
Arilus cristatus - wheel bug (Reduviidae).

Urbana, Illinois, USA
A flightless flat bug, Chelonoderus sp., from the northern Australian rain forests.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
A flightless flat bug, Chelonoderus sp., from the northern Australian rain forests.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
A flightless flat bug, Chelonoderus sp., from the northern Australian rain forests.

Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia
See photo in original gallery.
all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013