Assassin Bug

Class : Insecta
Order : Hemiptera
Sub-order : Heteroptera
Family : Reduviidae

The assassin bug is one of the largest and most varied groups under the order Hemipetra; nearly three thousand species have already been catalogued, and the discovery of untold numbers of new specimens is on the horizon. They can be found throughout most of the world. The sinister name lent to the insects is derived from their feeding habits : they, in an absurdly fast jump-and-pierce attack, pounce upon insects many times their size, and they win. Some will jump birds and mammals. They are, well, assassins.

Appearance and Feeding Habits
Although assassin bugs vary greatly in appearance (from the thin, mosquito-esque build to the unstoppable tank), they are generally brownish to black in color, medium to large as far as insects go, and have heads that taper off from the thorax into a sharp rostrum. They have powerful forelimbs constructed like a jackknife that are used to grasp prey; these limbs are tipped with hairy pads that allow for a better grip. Most species have two pairs of wings while some have none.

Assassin bugs feed through external digestion; that is, they digest the prey before actually eating it. This is done through the rostrum, which is rammed into a prospective meal and through which digestive enzymes run in and wreak havoc on the unfortunate insect's nervous system while liquefying their muscles and organs. The enzymes do their work almost immediately--they have been known to kill a cockroach in the space of three seconds, while caterpillars hundreds of times the bugs' weight can succumb in as little as ten. Once the enzymes have worked their wonders, the assassin bug then sucks everything back in, leaving only the rank, chitin shell of its victim.

Life Cycle and Human Interaction
Most assassin bugs deposit their eggs during autumn, in cracks and crevices packed full of leaves. The eggs hatch in spring, yielding assassin nymphs that, except for their diminutive size, look almost exactly like adults. The nymphs progress to adulthood through five growth stages (or instars, for our entomologist noders, to whom I hope I am not making a fool of myself), each of which is capped by a molt. Adults are usually the stage of assassin that survives the winter, going on to proliferate again in the spring.

As I mentioned before, some assassins will attack birds and mammals. Mammals includes careless human handlers. The bite of some species is painless, while the bite of others is extremely painful, resulting from a venom component. The effect may last for months. A painful biter is the masked hunter (Reduvius personatus), often found in houses where it preys on bedbugs and other insects. The adults often bite humans around the mouth (presumably attracted by carbon dioxide or elevated heat emitted from the area), hence its other common name, the kissing bug. In Central and South America certain species of the Mexican Bedbug are the vectors for a highly fatal disease known as Chagas disease.

Other Interesting Facts

• Hemiptera groups include water scorpions, water boatmen, backswimmers, water striders, bed bugs, and stink bugs. The similarities in these insects to the assassin bug is in the mouthparts; some of the above listed have similar mouthparts with which they suck the juices from plants. Some are carnivorous, but they are not assassins.
• While assassin bugs are fierce carnivores, they themselves frequently fall prey to birds and reptiles. Some species have developed a defense mechanism to counteract their pursuers--they will shoot the digestive venom from their rostrum, firing at ranges as high as a foot. The substance acts like mace; it irritates the eyes and sinuses, and can cause temporary blindness in humans.
• (Contributed by Tem42) : While this is not technically fact, it is quite interesting: Charles Darwin's lingering death is attributed by some to Chagas Disease. This suspicion was created by Darwin himself, in Naturalist's Voyage; Darwin gives an account in which he, out of curiosity, watched an assassin bug fatten itself on his blood. Presumably, the heart failure that finished him off would have been brought on by the disease. One of the best accounts of this theory of Darwin's death can be found in "Darwin, Chagas', Mind and Body" by Jared Haft Goldstein.
• (Contributed by Metacognizant) : Some assassin bugs are known to exhibit complicated patterns of behavior mirroring those of some animals--"The assaisin bug... has camouflaged itself chemically and tactilely by glueing bits of termite nest all over its body. In this way it is able to capure a termite at the opening of the nest without alarming the soldier termites. After sucking out the termite's semifluid organs, the assasin bug juggles the empty exoskeleton in front of the nest opening in order to attract another termite worker, which will normally attempt to consume or dispose of the corpse. When the second termite worker siezes the first, it is then captured and consumed itself... and the process may be repeated several times by the same assasin bug." Quoted from Donal Griffen's work Animal Thinking, wherein he cites D.A. McMahan's "Bait and Capture Strategy of Termite Eating Assasin Bug." Isectes Sociaux 29:346-51.

General Info:

Assassin bugs range anywhere in size from just a few millimeters to almost two inches. Their name is very descriptive of their means of hunting and feeding. Assassin bugs are carnivorous, and depending on the species, either actively hunt, or sit in wait for their prey.

What do they eat?

Some of the species of assassin bugs are actually parasitic, and will live off of the blood of mammals, including humans. Primarily though, assassin bugs will hunt their food, most commonly consisting of smaller insects such as mealworms, cockroaches, and large caterpillars that can be a few hundred times the assassin bugs own body weight. Amazingly, some tropical species have been known to attack smaller mammals, birds, and reptiles.

How do they kill their prey?

Assassin bugs are equipped with a large beak, called a rostrum, which is much like a mosquito's proboscis. However, where a mosquito has two tubes inside its proboscis, one to inject and one to suck, an assassin bug has only one large tube within its rostrum, which they use to inject massive amounts of poison into their prey. Using their forelegs, which are lined with many small hairs to assist with grip, they will grab their pray and begin to feed, this time using their beak to suck the liquefied insides. I have not been able to find a chemical composition of their venom, but it is known to be quite painful when injected into a human hand when they bite. One should also take care to handling them, as they can actually spray their venom up to a foot away, with incredible accuracy, even over their shoulder, and this will cause skin irritation, and if hits the eye, temporary blindness.

What is their life cycle like?

Adult assassin bugs will generally lay their eggs during the fall in small cracks and areas with some foliage for cover of their eggs. It will take a few months for the eggs to hatch, and the nymphs will generally be out by spring. The nymphs will go through five molts before they become adults. They generally reach this stage by winter. Life spans can be as long as three years for some species.

Man, these things sound awesome! Can I keep them as pets?

Assassin bugs would definitely be considered one of the more exotic invertebrates to keep as pets. However, with the proper setup and care, one can in fact have them as pets. However, make sure to check with your local laws before ordering them online, the best thing to do would be to check with your local pet or reptile store that carries insects (and not a big chain like Petsmart. They won't know). If it is legal, congratulations, you too can be an owner of these exotic, dangerous, and beautiful insects.

I checked, and they are legal in my area. Where do I get them?

If your local shop doesn't carry them (as it most likely will not, even if it is legal), you can talk with the owner about ordering them for you. If that doesn't work, you can always check online. I'd rather not give any links as to where, to avoid any kind of advertising or favoritism, however, there are many places if you search for "assassin bug pet" in any large search engine.

I got a few! Now how do I take care of them?

Housing/Groundcover

First of all, you're going to need a small aquarium or bug cage, of glass or plastic, to house them in. A good size would be 10 x 10 x 8, which will comfortably house up to 6 adult assassin bugs, as long as there are plenty of hiding places and food available for them. Ask your local shop as to what they sell that would be best to use for groundcover within the tank. If you are ordering online, some of the good things you can use are peat substitute, sand (my personal favorite, comes in various colors), and vermiculite. Take note than when adult assassin bugs are laying eggs, it may be hard to retrieve them out of the vermiculite, or sand, or whatever else you have, and you may choose instead to have it lined with paper, and have only a smaller section that has sand, where they can lay their eggs. Really, its more depending on what you want to do, if you want it to look nicer, I would forego the paper, and just take the time to extract their eggs carefully if you plan to move them, or just let them hatch, after you unbury them.

Make sure that you have a well ventilated covering, but it needs to be secure as well. Assassin bugs can climb slick surfaces, even glass, so you need to be careful. Having one loose in your room, especially one of the more exotic species, is one of the last things you want. Most of the time, the bugs will be hiding out in whatever cover you provide (your local shop can provide plenty of this kind of stuff), such as rocks, cork, or other wood. They will generally come out to only to feed.

Temperature

The temperature should be around 20-24 degrees Celsius (68-75 degrees Fahrenheit). You want to keep it nice and dry for those adult assassin bugs, and one way of doing this is through a heat pad (which I would personally recommend). This way you can keep a certain area warmer than the rest, so they don't get too hot. Otherwise, you can use various lamps.

Feeding

At your local pet store, you will find crickets, mealworms, and waxworms, and these are sufficient for your insect. A good rule of thumb would be to not give the assassin bug anything larger to eat than its own size (if you are keeping just a single assassin bug). If you feel particularly adventurous, you an pit various insects scavenged from your yard against your bug, but beware, he may not always come out the victor. A single assassin bug needs only to be feed about once a week. However, if you are keeping a colony, you are going to want to keep a pretty constant supply of food for them to eat, otherwise they will eat each other. And always remember to take away the corpses and remains of the bugs prey, as it can be pretty unpleasant to smell, and be unsanitary.

Handling

This is generally just not a good idea in the first place. When young, you can handle the nymphs, but you will probably want to steer clear of handling the adults. Remember, they are venomous, and CAN bite you. Also, if you happen to be allergic to their poison, you can experience intense itching, and swelling, with large welts and blotches appearing all over your entire body. Make sure to wear gloves if you do decide to handle them. Safety first!

Breeding

As long as you have an adult male and female, sex is going to happen. Once the female gets pregnant, she will begin to drop eggs. There is no mass or nest, they just drop them in their general vicinity. If you have completely sand for ground covering, and you dampen a patch first, they will be more inclined to lay their eggs there, due to the moistness. You will know when the eggs are about to hatch, because they will turn a slightly reddish color a few days before. It generally takes about three weeks from egg laying to hatching.

Ok, a bunch of nymphs just hatched! What do I do?

If you see a bunch of nymphs start roaming the tank, collect them and put them into a small Styrofoam cup, or any other small drinking glass. Make sure it has a tight fitting lid, and what you're going to want to do is put a small strip of paper towel, or toilet paper, from the bottom of the cup, up to over the edge. Make sure it stays moist with water to keep up the humidity, spraying it once a day with fresh water. You need to feed the nymphs fruit flies once a day, making sure there are always live ones for them to eat. You should continue to feed them fruit flies and pinhead crickets until they reach adulthood. After they reach the third molting, you can put them in the tank with the adults, and they won't be eaten. Congratulations, you are now on your way to breeding your very own new colony.

Hopefully you find this information helpful in understanding, caring for, and raising your assassin bug, or intriguing enough for you to consider purchasing one.

Bitriot did an excellent job above of providing general information on these wonderful insects, this particular addition is more focused on owning and caring for these insects. Just giving credit where credit is due.