Interesting Facts About Assassin Bugs

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  1. Assassin bugs are true bugs with more than 7,000 species. All these species are carnivores that feed on insects and other small animals. The most famous assassin bugs are kissing bugs, wheel bugs, bee assassins, three-legged bugs, feather-legged bugs, and masked hunters. 
  2. Assassin bugs use various hunting techniques to capture their prey, while different species may develop specific strategies. However, the most common hunting method is acting as ambush predators. Assassin bugs usually wait for their prey and strike with lightning speed when an insect comes within reach.
  3. An assassin bug species specializes in hunting stingless bees by manipulating their defenses, which increases its hunting success rate. Stingless bees use sticky resins around their nests as protection against predators. However, the assassin bug deliberately coats its legs with the resin to lure bees to its striking range. The success rate of this method is 75% compared to less than 30% in bugs that don’t use resin. It is the first evidence of an invertebrate hunting social insects by using tools. (Source)
  4. Some assassin bugs specialize in hunting bees and are known as bee assassins. These bugs commonly visit flowering plants where they coat their bodies with sticky resin. This technique assists them in catching bees and other slippery insects easily. Bee assassins consume a wide variety of garden insects, including honey bees, beetles, native bees, wasps, and flies. 
    An assassin bug on a plant
    Assassin bugs use plant resin for several purposes

  5. Female bee assassin bugs coat their eggs with resin of a specific plant to save them from ants. A study shows that this technique enhances the safety of eggs because predatory ants avoid the resin. The survival rate is nearly 10% in resin-free eggs compared to over 97% in resin-coated eggs. (Source)
  6. Some assassin bugs in Australia use aggressive mimicry to hunt spiders. These bugs pluck the web’s thread in a way that resembles an insect trapped in the web. This encourages the spider to move towards the vibration, thus landing in front of the waiting assassin bug. When the prey comes within reach of the bug, it easily controls and kills the spider. It is the first experiment that proves a spider-eating predator uses mimicry to catch its prey. Assassin bugs use this hunting strategy only against specific spider species. (Source)
  7. Assassin bugs are one of a few insects with a rostrum, a needle-like sharp structure on their heads. They use this curved weapon to kill and pierce the body of their prey. (Source)
  8. Venom in the saliva of assassin bugs acts differently according to the feeding behavior of these bugs. Saliva in blood-sucking assassin bugs, such as kissing bugs, causes numbness and reduces coagulation to ensure free flow of blood without causing pain. However, venom in predator assassin bugs results in pain, muscle paralysis, hemorrhage, and tissue liquefaction in their prey. The victim usually dies quickly due to respiratory paralysis. (Source)
  9. Assassin bugs provide one of the best natural pest control in gardens and farms due to their predatory habits. They consume common garden pests, such as aphids, whiteflies, leafhoppers, thrips, beetles, and squash bugs. More larvae and adult assassin bugs hunt these pests. 
  10. Assassin bugs are aggressive hunters that may attack and kill insects having size larger than their own. They use their powerful beak and venomous saliva to successfully hunt larger insects, such as beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and wasps.  Due to their aggressive nature, these bugs may deliver painful bites to humans if they feel threatened.
  11. The masked hunter, a nocturnal assassin bug, is known for its strange camouflage technique during its nymph stage. The adult and nymph masked hunters are similar in shape and diet, but have different sizes and colors. Unlike the adult bug, the nymph masked hunter can’t fly. To compensate for this deficiency, the nymph uses dust as camouflage on its light brown body. By covering its body with dust and lint, the immature masked hunter looks like a walking pile of dust.
  12. Some assassin bugs, native to Asia and Africa, camouflage by covering their bodies with ants, their prey. The insect can carry up to 20 dead ants by binding them together with a sticky excretion. The specific assassin bug hunts several types of animals, but only uses ants as camouflage. This strategy protects them from jumping spiders, their primary predators. A possible reason for using ants is that the mound of dead ants on their back looks like a swarm. Jumping spiders usually avoid them because these swarms pose danger by secreting harmful chemicals. (Source)
  13. Assassin bugs are present on all continents except Antarctica due to its harsh environment and absence of prey insects. These insects inhabit a large number of terrestrial biomes, such as rainforests, scrub forests, savannas, and urban gardens. These bugs make their homes in trees, human buildings, underneath stones, and in the nests of other animals.
  14. Most assassin bugs are black or dark brown, while some display bright colors as a warning. Their size varies and usually ranges between 5 and 40 mm, while the horrid king assassin bug is the largest species. These bugs generally have a short curved beak, an oval-shaped body, and long thin legs. 
  15. Despite being smaller in size, the nymphs of feather-legged assassin bugs hunt ants with an unusual strategy. These bugs invite ants to bite their hairy legs, and when an ant bites, the nymph kills its prey with a death blow. The success rate of this unusual predatory strategy is 81%. Ants are nearly five times bigger than these nymphs, but there is no proof they can kill their smaller predators. (Source)
  16. Alongside their piercing mouthparts, assassin bugs also use their front legs to capture prey. These legs enable bugs to grab and hold their prey, and then they use their sharp rostrum to pierce and paralyze their victim. 
  17. Assassin bugs are generally not harmful to humans, but some may bite for defense. Bites of most assassin bugs can hurt and cause a burning sensation. However, it is not dangerous, and the pain may fade in one or two days. Bites of common assassin bugs may cause severe symptoms only in people allergic to insect bites.
  18. Kissing bugs are the only assassin bugs that transmit lethal disease to humans. Unlike other assassin bugs, their bites are not painful, but they contain a parasite that causes Chagas disease. The disease causes edema, fever, and sometimes heart failure. The infection is dangerous, particularly for children.
  19. Like many other true bugs, assassin bugs also release stinky scents to repel predators. However, their scents are less harsh than some other insects, such as stinky bugs and leaf-footed bugs. (Source)
  20. Assassin bugs are fierce predators that hunt several animals, including some larger ones. However, they have several predators as well. Their natural predators include insect-eating birds, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods. Assassin bugs defend themselves with bites, stinky scents, and camouflage.
  21. Female assassin bugs lay eggs in a tight, upright cluster on bark or plant leaves. Each cluster contains up to 70 flask-shaped eggs. Their flask-like shape and spined caps make these eggs easily distinguishable from other insect eggs. Some male assassin bugs protect their eggs from predators and parasites until they hatch, which usually takes two weeks.

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