Joe informed me that Wikipedia's picture of the day today features the assassin bug. The assassin bug, pictured here (via Wikipedia), isn't terribly assassin-looking. I would have preferred ninja garb, or a trench coat with the collar turned up, or maybe a three-piece suit and a tommy gun, but oh well. I guess a chitin carapace and a blood-sucking siphon for a tongue will do. And I'm sure there are some good nodules and bumps and hooks int here, too.
Watch the video below and see where the ugly kicks in. Watch a baby (nymph) assassin bug dine on the blood of a bat (touche,bat). And then check out this link for more photos of assassin bugs in action.
Thanks, Joe.
Feb 20, 2009
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5 comments:
in addition to being ugly, these guys are also called "kissing bugs" because of the big gross hickey they leave behind. AND they cause dangerous allergic reactions. also i recommend NEVER hitting one with a shoe. bloody globby icky devastation
In Central and South America, these guys are the vector for Chagas disease.
In the Eastern US, we have a common relative called a wheel-bug that has one of the most painful bites in nature. The bite of an assassin bug is pretty painless, but the bite of a wheel bug is like being pierced with a red hot dagger.
I love assassin bugs, especially the nymphs.
Here's one near H.P. Lovecraft’s grave in Providence RI.
Assassin in the mist
I found one of these in my house a few years ago. Apparently some of them can secrete a sort of glue which makes small things stick to them and camoflauges them using elements from the environment they live in.
This one was camoflauged like a dust bunny.
I don't know if you noticed but this post doesn't have a title.
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