Damsel Ant Mimic Bug Himacerus mirmicoides in Gunnersbury Triangle

Ant-mimic bug, Myrmecoris gracilis on Ragwort
Ant-mimic bug, Himacerus mirmicoides on Ragwort

Here’s a bug that avoids being eaten by looking quite enough like an ant to fool a variety of predators.  Its name, mirmicoides, means ant-like. Its naturally thick body is made to appear to have a typical ant “waist” with a judicious bit of white camouflage.

Ant-mimic predatory bug, Myrmecoris gracilis, dorsal view, on Ragwort
Ant-mimic predatory bug,  Himacerus mirmicoides, dorsal view, on Ragwort

Certainly an interesting “bug” to find. (It’s a true bug, family  Nabidae, the damsel bugs, in the Hemiptera.)

Ant-mimic predatory bug, Myrmecoris gracilis, on Yarrow
On Yarrow

The long and distinctly un-antlike rostrum is held under the head, so predators presumably don’t notice it much. The antennae are similarly much too long to be an ant’s.