Psytalla horrida
| Distribution: | Western Africa |
| Size: | 30 – 45mm body |
| Diet: | Other bugs |
P.horrida is the largest assassin bug in the world, it’s the size of 4 London buses parked end-to-end. It’s also known as the horrid king assassin bug which seems like quite a harsh description when you consider just how horrid kings can be (Henry VIII, Ivan IV, that one off Game of Thrones etc).
These nocturnal hunters have a spear-like mouthpiece as long as their head (called a rostrum) which they use to inject their prey with a potent venom – immobilising and liquifying their insides. It then sucks out the soupy remnants through the straw-like rostrum much like how other members of the hemiptera family suck sap from plants.
They’re also capable of spraying would-be attackers with their venom, presumably in an attempt to recreate one of the best scenes of Jurassic Park. If that’s not enough, they’ve also got bloody great big spikes on their pronotum.
Drawing this one was a real treat – capturing the detail of the transparent wings on the abdomen took an awful lot of time drawing shadow, then highlights, then less opaque shadows, then less opaque highlights etc, but the effect is worth the effort. It’s one of my favourite A3 prints because you can really see the painstaking detail involved.
Take a closer look…
