About Apiomerus flaviventris Herrich-Schaeffer, 1846
Apiomerus flaviventris, commonly known as the yellow-bellied bee assassin, is a species of bee assassin bug that feeds on bees. This insect is native to arid and semiarid regions of southwestern North America. A. flaviventris is known for extracting plant resins, which females then apply as defensive chemicals to their eggs to protect them from predation, most commonly by ants, though the defense may also work against other predatory species. Female A. flaviventris collect this resin specifically from brittlebush, Encelia farinosa Gray ex Torr. of the family Asteraceae.
