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Beauty and the Beast: The Assassin Bug

flickr.com — Assassin bugs earn their name by surprising their prey and viciously attacking it. They lie in wait on flowers or in tree bark and pounce on unsuspecting victims. Using their front legs, they pin the victim down while stabbing it to death with a beak that is usually tucked into a groove on their 'chest'.

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  • bronowiczj, on 07/15/2008, -7/+39om nom nom nom nom
    • lukemit, on 07/16/2008, -4/+9Let's just add in a few more digg cliches while we're at it. I'll start:

      Damn nature, you scary!

      Assassin bug, ninjas of the insect world
    • infinityofnever, on 07/16/2008, -2/+2nerd?
    • dabura, on 07/16/2008, -1/+3screw that, it's a ninja!
  • carter1337, on 07/15/2008, -0/+22Looks cool but I wanna see it in action
  • Tomboys, on 07/15/2008, -5/+4that's intense in it's color.
    • ayeroxor, on 07/16/2008, -1/+4You're right, it is intense in it is color.
    • mattlohkamp, on 07/16/2008, -1/+1grammar nazi says "Raus, to Auschwitz! Mach schnell!!"
      • ayeroxor, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1Reply nazi says, "Du klickten den falschen Reply Knopf, Dummkopf!!"
  • krolm, on 07/16/2008, -9/+5it's so cute!!! :)
  • DeadSkinMask, on 07/16/2008, -13/+2Oh, Hi!
  • alapoet, on 07/16/2008, -0/+29I can personally report to you that the bite of an assassin bug hurts like HELL. I grew up around them in Alabama.

    They are, though, pretty cool to observe in their hunting of other bugs. Stealthy, and when the beak comes out, deadly.
    • Kidtuf, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7I've heard the same thing about the bite of the assasin bug. Does the "bite" come from the beak stabbing into you or are there mouth parts that chomp?
      • ayeroxor, on 07/16/2008, -0/+4Just the 'beak'. Bugs that have a proboscis don't have jaws.
    • dabura, on 07/16/2008, -4/+2man...same thing happen over here in the city, but it's not bugs that I'm worried, those Squirrel man, THOSE SQUIRREL !!
    • Bamont, on 07/17/2008, -0/+3Funny you say that alapoet, because I had lived in Alabama for about 6 months when I walked outside one day and saw one on the wall. Hardly distinguishable, I took some pictures of it and proceeded to compare them online with other insects from the area.

      Quite the amazing insect, they are.
      • drexl, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1Also from Alabama.....and yes that bite hurts like hell. Got bitten on the leg when I was 8 or 9. I screamed like a banshee.
  • gdha, on 07/16/2008, -0/+8Crazy bug...I want one.
  • zzz@tkz, on 07/16/2008, -0/+9***** those things. There was one on my door frame the other day, and my dog tried to eat the damned thing.
  • reevolutn, on 07/16/2008, -0/+17whats up with the double border? it looks like its been framed, mounted and then framed again
    • tschau, on 07/16/2008, -0/+13you can tell how classy an image is by the number of mattes it has.
      • diggB, on 07/16/2008, -0/+12Just like you can tell how classy a guy is by the number of popped polo shirts he has on ...
    • Insomnya3AM, on 07/17/2008, -1/+1It's supposed to look like a real frame. A fail frame, maybe.
  • KiDMAJORA, on 07/16/2008, -2/+8Okay, what the hell am I even looking at?
  • leerayIG88, on 07/16/2008, -3/+4Assasin bugs? more like NINJAS!??!11
  • Tyrghast, on 07/16/2008, -0/+9Filed under "Nightmare Material".
  • emehrkay, on 07/16/2008, -0/+15http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmV6TjVNZGM pretty cool little bug as long as it isnt anywhere near me
  • lostsymphonies1, on 07/16/2008, -6/+2lol wtf
  • superkendall, on 07/16/2008, -3/+4Fake flower?
  • Talphin, on 07/16/2008, -6/+5We have these things around my work. They are actually pretty slow, but creepy as hell. Definately cool to look at.

    On a side note, if any of you have ever seen the Showtime series Dexter, there is one sucking his blood in the intro of the show, right before he swats it.
  • CiDaemon, on 07/16/2008, -0/+9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reduviidae

    "They use the long proboscis to inject a lethal saliva that liquefies the insides of the prey, which are then sucked out."

    "Many assassin bugs have been known to bite humans when not handled carefully. For some species the bite is known to be very painful"

    eek!
    • angusm, on 07/16/2008, -0/+3The next paragraph from the Wikipedia entry about assassin bugs is even scarier:

      "Some blood-sucking species, particularly Triatoma spp. and other members of the subfamily Triatominae (e.g., Paratriatoma hirsuta) , are also known as kissing bugs due to their habit of biting humans in their sleep on the soft tissue of the lips and eyes; a number of these haematophagous species, located in Central and South America, are able to transmit a potentially fatal trypanosome disease known as Chagas disease."

      Chagas disease, by the way, is a real bitch: not effectively treatable, and leading eventually to severe organ damage and death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease
    • d0onut, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1One landed on me once, and some animal expert told me, "Don't worry. That's just an _assassin_ bug."
  • spin164, on 07/16/2008, -0/+7Yeah, it does look bad ass, but if that was crawling up my arm....O.O


  • Aerandir, on 07/16/2008, -4/+5Oh, ha...AAARRGGHHHH!!

    ..om nom nom.
  • antoniuk, on 07/16/2008, -0/+10'The only Good Bug is a Dead Bug"
    - Random Angry Guy
  • Xoti, on 07/16/2008, -4/+3Am i the only one who thought about Metal Gear?
  • SmellyFingers, on 07/16/2008, -9/+1Oh hai! Can i do u lulz?
  • Brassbud, on 07/16/2008, -4/+0looks like a grasshopper
  • poidh, on 07/16/2008, -5/+3Buried for not meeting expectations upon the click.
  • FlyingPhotog, on 07/16/2008, -6/+1Much cooler photo that a blurry Times Square.
  • solidus636, on 07/16/2008, -4/+4I thought this had something to do with MGS4...

    -_-.
  • tallulahvulture, on 07/16/2008, -4/+1banana
  • marx2k, on 07/16/2008, -6/+2***** that looks like something I wanna smoke
  • jim270, on 07/16/2008, -6/+3I'm glad you like my photo of the Assassin Bug :-))
    The flower is a Spiderwort.
    • powatom, on 07/17/2008, -1/+1Your photo?

      OUR PHOTO!
    • drexl, on 07/17/2008, -0/+1Hey Jim270, I have no idea why your being dugg down! It is his photo folks.
  • Callaway7, on 07/16/2008, -3/+2From wikipedia...

    "Many assassin bugs have been known to bite humans when not handled carefully. For some species the bite is known to be very painful, sometimes causing allergic reactions, and bites can become infected, as with any wound.

    Some blood-sucking species, particularly Triatoma spp. and other members of the subfamily Triatominae (e.g., Paratriatoma hirsuta) , are also known as kissing bugs due to their habit of biting humans in their sleep on the soft tissue of the lips and eyes; a number of these haematophagous species, located in Central and South America, are able to transmit a potentially fatal trypanosome disease known as Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis)."
  • macattak420, on 07/16/2008, -2/+0it took me like a few minutes to find his head and they suck blood, *****
  • MedicalMatt, on 07/17/2008, -2/+1I dont get it.
  • aserer511, on 07/17/2008, -2/+1a text description would not kill anyone, no pun intended
  • vengefuldrx, on 07/17/2008, -1/+2These little ***** hurt like hell when they "bite" you. I haven't seen that many of them in action except for the one that bit me on the chest, and one that was in my car that I promptly pulled over and killed. They should call it the 10 minute assassination bug, because you'll be hurting like hell for at least that long.
  • MaddieCakes, on 07/17/2008, -2/+1Nope; still a mosquito. The reason its abdomen is red has nothing to do with natural coloring; it's filled with blood, which is why it's the color it is.

    Assassin bug: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/GSFgraph ...

    Mosquito: http://rebekahusry.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/mos ...
  • brokendalek, on 07/20/2008, -0/+1That's really nice
  • jeff112, on 07/28/2008, -1/+0Get tips of naturally glowing skin by beauty sleep at http://www.ultimate-cosmetics.com/beauty/body-basi ...
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