Assassin Bug—A Gruesome Garden Predator
The assassin bug is a beneficial insect that will help rid your garden of insect pests. It's a destroyer bug that consumes unwanted garden pests such as beetles, flies, caterpillars and mosquitoes.
Assassin bugs lay in wait for their prey, after which they jab the bug with their beak and inject a toxin that decomposes tissue. Then they suck out the other bug's parts.
Assassin bugs are usually brown to black color, although a few species are vibrantly colored.
They're medium size to large bugs (.5 to 1 inch, 1.25 to 2.5 cm), with heads that are longer and narrower than the middle region of the body.
The front legs are used for gripping prey.
You can find assassin bugs in weedy and branchy spots during the warm months, particularly in hedgerows, around roadsides and fence rows, and along paths.
You'll find ambush bugs, relatives of the assassin bug, only on wildflowers throughout the summer. They also live and hunt on goldenrod in summer and early autumn.
Several of the bug species assault rapidly, overpowering prey. If sufficient food is not available, assassin bugs will also eat one another.
If you decide to go looking for assassin bugs in your gardens, wear a pair of safety glasses. These bugs can spray their tissue-dissolving toxin up to a foot away. If they feel threatened by you, you could end up with an eye full of this toxin, which can create short-term visual problems for you.
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