Assassin takes gold

The aptly named assassin bug, known for injecting toxic saliva into its prey's innards before sucking out the nutrients, has taken the crown in this year's linkurl:Ugly Bug Contest,;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57798/ accumulating more than 10,000 votes (30 percent).

linkurl:Assassin bug;http://askabiologist.asu.edu/assassin-bug

Northern Arizona University forestry and natural sciences researcher linkurl:Marilee Sellers;http://www.cefns.nau.edu/Academic/Biology/Faculty/MarileeSellers.shtml started the contest, designed to entice kids of all ages to have fun learning about the creepy-crawlies of the world, more than 10 years ago with some posters featuring high quality electron micrographs of insects.

linkurl:Yellow dragonfly;http://askabiologist.asu.edu/yellow-dragonfly

Now fully up-to-date with videos and social media pages for each insect contestant, voting is open to the world. This year the contest's 10 arthropod hopefuls attracted more than 36,000 votes -- more than quadruple last year's tallies.

linkurl:Jewel wasp;http://askabiologist.asu.edu/jewel-wasp

With 27 percent of the votes, second place went to the mighty yellow dragonfly, which spends its youth underwater breathing through gills. And the jewel...