Wheel Bug (Nymph)

Found throughout North America in gardens, orchards, deciduous forests, and fields vegetated with shrubs and trees.

Strictly carnivorous; they are generalist predators that eat caterpillars, beetles, bees, and other insects using a piercing-sucking proboscis.

Solitary predators that ambush or slowly stalk prey. They undergo incomplete metamorphosis, with nymphs like this one molting several times before developing the characteristic dorsal wheel or cog.

Extremely beneficial for natural pest control in gardens. However, they can deliver a very painful bite if handled or provoked; while not medically significant, the pain is described as worse than a bee sting.