Scarlet-bordered Assassin Bug

Many animals eat other animals so it's a little uncommon to put this trait into their name unless the name also tells us what they eat, like with the Cicada Killer Wasp, but we have put the moniker of "assassin" on some predatory bugs. The Scarlet-bordered Assassin Bug below is one example.

I was surprised to find that there wasn't much information on these bugs to be found, at least when doing conventional web searches. (I wouldn't be surprised if some biology journals have information on them that's not available to regular people.)

What I was able to learn is that they're active during the day, considered to be strong fliers, and they're in a family that specializes in eating millipedes. They have a very similar looking relative that seems to be a less vibrant red in color but don't live in this area. Though I'm probably not what this assassin bug would consider food, assassin bugs have been known to give painful bites to people (just in case you were thinking that something with "assassin" in their name would be friendly).

Unlike ladybugs or lightning bugs (both of which are beetles), assassin bugs are true bugs.

May 18, 2022 at Duke Farms
Photo 203066443, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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