Leaf-footed Bug
Anoplocnemis ?
Near Eldoret, Kenya. Dec. 2015.
All True Bugs such as Leaf-footed Bugs have specialized mouthparts for taking liquified food. With sharp stylettes they pierce straight into tissue and with a powerful pump remove fluid. Leaf-footed bugs focus their feeding activity on fruits and developing seeds. This feeding often causes the seeds to be infertile or to become infected with bacteria or molds. If the host is a crop for food, the farmer is not happy of course. But in the case shown here the bug is feeding on fruits of a weedy plant that has no economic value.