Zelus longipes is an assassin bug that is a member of the (harpactorinae

Harpactorinae

Harpactorinae is a large subfamily of the reduviid . About 300 genera and 2000 species worldwide have been described. Some of the species of the genera Zelus, Pselliopus, Sinea and Apiomerus are of interest as natural enemies of crop pests.-partial list of genera:*Acholla Stål, 1862*Apiomerus...

) subfamily. It occurs from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 south to Central Argentina, especially in agroecosystems in Brazil.

Z. longipes has been considered as a potential biocontrol agent, as it prefers caterpillars of Spodoptera frugiperda, which is a moth that is a pest in cornfields. Z. longipes prefers smaller caterpillars, probably because there is less risk of injury while subduing smaller prey.

External links

• Zelus longipes on the UF
  University of Florida
  The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
  
   / IFAS
  Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
  The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information...
  
  Featured Creatures Web site