Wheel bugs have a very legitimate claim to their name; they are true bugs (order Hemiptera) and they have a protrusion on their back that looks like a wheel. They are predators on caterpillars and other such creatures, so they are described as beneficial insects, like ladybugs.
Like other true bugs, wheel bugs have piercing-sucking mouthparts; they stab prey and inject enzymes that dissolve tissue, then suck it all up. When provoked by humans, this stab-and-inject routine apparently turns into one of the more painful insect bites one might have the misfortune to experience. The field guide I was consulting says the pain generally lasts for ten days, but followed with "In the case of multiple bites, the discomfort gradually decreases over six to nine months."
Having read that, I think I'd rather have ladybugs in my garden.
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