Assassin Bug

This is the Wheel Bug variety, and the best thing I can find to say about him is - zilch! A really mean SOB, (as Tom can testify, having been bitten a couple of days ago,) they like to lurk on fence posts or galvanised gates, waiting for the unwary to happen past.

Adults are 1-1/4 inch long and have a slender, long antennae (reddish-brown). The body is grayish-black with an upright one-half "cogwheel-like" crest on the thorax bearing 8 to 12 protruding teeth-like structures. The membrane of the front wing is coppery colored. Wheel bugs are rather uncommon, but attract attention when found due to their bizarre appearance. They are voracious predators, attacking large caterpillars, such as tomato hornworms, and suck them dry. They will not bite humans readily, but when they do, the bite is very painful.

Little charmer isn't he? And gorgeous large