Fact Sheet

General Information:

There are nearly 300 species of assassin bugs world wide. All are predaceous and the majority feed on other insects. Most are considered beneficial insects and are an important predator in corps. They eat flies, aphids, caterpillars,beetles, lygus and other insects and insect eggs.

Description:

Some assassin bugs actively seek their prey while others have the habit of lying in ambush for their prey and all will attack insects much larger than themselves. They have raptorial front legs for grasping their prey and elongated mouth parts called a beak or rostrum, with which they pierce other insects, inject digestive juices into the other insect and then suck up the juices. Our local assassin bugs are 1/2 to 3/4 inches long.

Life Cycle:

Most assassin bugs lay their eggs in the fall with the eggs hatching out the following spring, but some species do over winter as adults. The immature stages, nymphs, look like a smaller version of the adults without wings. In some species the nymphs are covered with a sticky substance to which dust and other particles adhere making for good camouflage. Nymphs eat the same insects that the adults eat.