neverspent | Assassin bug hatchlings

This 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!

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neverspent

Good instincts! Nature does have that useful way. I think the first time I inspected them closely, they took my breath away a little and among other possibilities, I described them as maybe "mustering for an attack." Heh.

ysabetwordsmith

I've seen them do that here, yes.

The miniature ecosystem in my raspberry patch is red in tooth and claw and chitin. It's kind of amazing to stand there and look at all the bugs, and realize that hardly anything is attacking the berries because most of them are eating each other.

That's so cool. Amazing to watch and to know that the best "pesticides" can be other insects.

Pretty much the only things I use bug spray on are invasives like Japanese beetles that little or nothing will eat, or ones that clump like tent caterpillars on a trunk (branches I usually prune and burn).

Nature is Never Spent

There Lives the Dearest Freshness Deep Down Things

Assassin bug hatchlings

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