Assassin bug hatchlings
Jun. 6th, 2013 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neverspentThis evening, a friend sent me a photo of a small aggregation of tiny insects outside her house and wondered if I could identify the critters. I knew I'd seen them before in my own balcony garden, so I did a search here on my blog and discovered that three years ago at right about this time of year, I had indeed posted a photo of the same bugs. I'd submitted a query to an identification site but hadn't heard back. A little more browsing this time, however, led me to Wheel Bug nymphs, which led me to Assassin Bug nymphs. Finally identified!
Assassin Bugs, true to their name, prey on other insects, many of which are considered undesirable by humans. Some members of the Reduviidae family have saliva with antibacterial or insecticidal properties. The adults found in my region apparently can and will bite, but only when threatened. The bite is like a bee sting and can leave a welt. They definitely still fall in the plus column for me. The next time I find some of these little cuties, I won't snip their leaf and throw them overboard; I'll invite them to stay!
Assassin Bugs, true to their name, prey on other insects, many of which are considered undesirable by humans. Some members of the Reduviidae family have saliva with antibacterial or insecticidal properties. The adults found in my region apparently can and will bite, but only when threatened. The bite is like a bee sting and can leave a welt. They definitely still fall in the plus column for me. The next time I find some of these little cuties, I won't snip their leaf and throw them overboard; I'll invite them to stay!