Jagged Ambush Bug

Phymata americana are found in open fields of flowering plants near rural forest edges, farms, and urban areas.

Phymata americana feed on a wide variety of prey, most often including small bees, moths, and flies. As their common name suggests, P. americana are sit-and-wait ambush predators, resting on flower heads where they grab visiting insects with large raptorial foreleg weapons. Females can be larger than males, and often have disproportionately longer weapons. Sexual dimorphism in weapon morphology in P. americana may have evolved due to sex differences in prey capture strategies, with females capturing prey from underneath flower heads and males either eating prey already captured by females or capturing smaller prey on plant stems while searching for mates. Females tend to capture larger prey species than males due to their larger weapons, potentially decreasing intersexual resource competition.