Creature Feature: Assassin Bug

Ninja tropes show a shrouded killer appears with a breeze's sigh then strikes. The assassin bug acts similarly.The assassin bug times its movements with the wind.Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry of the University of Queensland says the assassin bug uses its legs and body to mimic surroundings' erratic movements under a gust of wind. This hides the bug as it strikes its target.

The assassin bug eats voraciously, consuming prey twice its size. When striking, it uses a beak like a curving dagger. The reduviidae’s proboscis flicks, injecting paralyzing venom and corrosive digestive acids. These acids dissolve the living victim's insides.These caustic substances turn the victim into a soupy slime, which the reduviidae sucks back up.The assassin bug is the only creature that uses one weapon for both venom delivery and feeding. This is serious anime killer action.

Spiders use stealth, ferocity, and natural weapons. A spider’s web vibrates, alerting the spider when prey falls in, usually providing a meal. The spider-eating assassin bug learns to...The assassin bug short circuits the spider’s defenses and attacks even inside its web.The assassin bug grasps a web thread with its front legs. It pulls the thread apart like taffy, but the trick doesn't end there.

The fluttering ends of silken web segments might alert the spider to an intruder. Thus, the assassin bug does not just break the web. It slowly releases the web ends so vibrations do not expose its position. The spider often ignores its danger until it sees its insides dissolving as a snack for the reduviidae. Assassin bugs even...pretend to be caught in the spider’s web.The assassin bug then attacks and feeds when the hungry spider searches for its supposed meal.

1987'sPredatorArnold Schwarzenegger battles an invisible foe called “el demonio que hace trofeos de los hombres” or "the demon who makes trophies of men." The Predator is an extraterrestrial sport hunter. It wears victims' skulls and spinal columns as trophies. The assassin bug challenges the Predator because...Assassin bugs stick the empty husks of their victims to their backs using a sticky secretion made just for that job.Assassin bugs wear victim corpses as armor and camouflage.

This strange behavior has two reasons. It offers cover and concealment for the assassin bug. It also acts as exo-skeletal armor. If a predator, like a lizard, wants the assassin bug for its next meal, the hunter usually gets dehydrated ant corpses, letting the assassin bug escape freely.

A group in the reduviidae family, the phymatinae or ambush bug, is a smaller, heavier version of the assassin bug. The assassin bug creeps up and attacks prey stealthily. The ambush bug lives up to its name; it waits, often on a flower matching its bright color, for an unsuspecting victim to walk by. Their food includes caterpillars, bees, wasps, and flies.

Ambush bugs, like assassin bugs, do not hesitate to wait for prey larger than themselves. The ambush bug uses itsSome assassin bugs lay in wait for their victims using raptorial forelegs.; this feature, common in praying mantises, lets them firmly grab victims before using their spear-like proboscis to pierce and eat them. Like assassin bugs, ambush bugs help gardens by eating many bugs that harm plants and vegetables. Another reduviidae family group, over 160 members strong, is the wheel bug, named for the ridge on its back resembling a wheel cog.

The assassin bug sounds cool now—an insect ninja. It uses stealth to creep up on prey almost silently, then paralyzes the victim before dissolving its insides for a meal. This changes. Another reduviidae group, the triatominae, or kissing bug, is known. Instead of piercing victims and sucking out insides like a gross smoothie, the triatominae drinks blood.

The kissing bug gets its name because it feeds on the fleshy, blood-rich areas around the mouths of vertebrates, like humans and pets. Chagas disease is called American Trypanosomiasis. This disease happens not from the bite, but because the creature poops while eating and rubs its feces into the bite with its hind legs. The feces carriesThe parasite can carry Chagas, a potentially fatal disease.Reduviidae can carry Chagas, a potentially fatal disease, specifically the trypomastosoma cruzi., which shows few symptoms first. Symptoms start appearing two to three months later. Some people only see mild symptoms with no lasting effects. However, about 30% of those infected with Chagas develop heart damage and heart failure up to 30 to 40 years later. Theorists suggest Chagas-related heart disease may have killed Charles Darwin.

Assassin bugs kill well, but natural enemies exist. In fights, the assassin bug loses easily. The assassin bug, like the shadow ninja it shares a name with, lacks the build for long close-range fights. The longer a fight with a bee, bird, rodent, spider, or another assassin bug lasts, the more the reduviidae suffers. This brutal video shows an encounter between a tiger assassin bug and a silverback spider.A tiger assassin bug and a silverback spider.This shows what happens when a stealth fighter is not stealthy. Even someone who never played Dungeons and Dragons sees a life lesson here.

The assassin bug is avery specialized killerit has a distinct skill set. This one-sided approach puts the reduviidae at a disadvantage outside their normal hunting. However, under perfect conditions, it makes them one of the deadliest insects by weight and more. This also makes it a welcome garden addition because it controls pests naturally. Still, do not take it lightly. The sting from the assassin bug’s main proboscis is painful, compared to a hornet's sting, so step back if you find one in your garden.