---
title: "North American Wheel Bug"
description: "Arilus cristatus — Insetti e ragni. Arilus cristatus, also known as the North American wheel bug or simply wheel bug, is a species of large assassin bug in the family Reduviidae and the only species of wheel bug found in the United States."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/north-american-wheel-bug
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# North American Wheel Bug

> Arilus cristatus — Insetti e ragni. Arilus cristatus, also known as the North American wheel bug or simply wheel bug, is a species of large assassin bug in the family Reduviidae and the only species of wheel bug found in the United States.

- Scientific name: *Arilus cristatus*
- Category: `insects` (Insetti e ragni)
- Habitats: `forest` (Foresta)
- iNaturalist observations: 63597
- Wikidata: [Q7992007](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7992007)
- iNaturalist taxon: [48957](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48957)

## Names

- en: North American Wheel Bug
- es: Chinche Crestada Norteamericana
- fr: Réduve roue-dentée
- nl: Wheel bug

## Countries with the most observations

US (61721), MX (191), CA (11)

## Summary

Arilus cristatus, also known as the North American wheel bug or simply wheel bug, is a species of large assassin bug in the family Reduviidae and the only species of wheel bug found in the United States. It is one of the largest terrestrial Hemiptera in North America, reaching up to 38 mm (1.5 in) in length in its adult stage. This species exhibits sexually dimorphic characteristics, in that males are somewhat smaller than the females. A characteristic structure is the wheel-shaped pronotal ridge along its thorax. They are predators, using their proboscis to inject and dissolve prey tissue. The North American wheel…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arilus_cristatus

## Photo

![North American Wheel Bug](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/north-american-wheel-bug/medium.jpg)

Photo: Andy Wilson · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/87602602

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/north-american-wheel-bug?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).