Biology Wheel bugs occur throughout North Carolina. They feed voraciously on caterpillars, such as the fall webworm and imported cabbageworm. Wheel bugs have been reported to feed on locust borer adults on goldenrod, eleven-spotted cucumber beetles, and leafmining beetle larvae inside the leaf. Female wheel bugs sometimes kill and feed on male wheel bugs after mating. Wheel bug nymphs feed on aphids and other small insects.
Wheel bugs feed by piercing the host and injecting a potent saliva into the prey.
The saliva contains enzymes that quickly subdue the prey and then digest the tissues inside. The wheel bug then sucks this digested liquid from the prey as it shrivels up. If handled carelessly, wheel bugs may inflict a painful bite on people. Injury from a wheel bug bite takes about 10 days to heal and leaves a small scar. Female wheel bugs lay masses of 42-182 eggs by gluing them to bark or some object.