Friday, December 6, 2013

A is for ASSASSIN BUG

I tried to think of a subject for my next A-Z and then came up with the idea of INSECTS.  There are lots of very interesting creatures out there of which I know very little.  I am going to learn more about the insect world and hope you will join me so we can all increase our knowledge of their small world.  There will be some we've perhaps never heard of (such as this first one) and other that are commonly known but are still interesting.

This very first insect Pristhesancus plagipennis belongs to the Order Hemiptera and the family Reduvidae.  This bug is said to have a very painful bite.  *At first I couldn't find a lot of information about this particular insect but I then discovered a website with a lot of information that is quite gruesome but also interesting. (see below)

It is a medium to large sized bug with a large curved mouth part for piercing and sucking.  It has long legs.  Adult bugs are brown in colour with transparent wings.  Nymphs are black with orange abdomens when they first emerge from the egg.

 

They go through several instars (or moults) before becoming winged adults. (The term 'instar' means the developmental stages of the larval or nymphal forms).


These insects grow up to 23mm (0.9 ins) in length and inhabits the foliage of plants.  They ambush insects and impale them with their spiky mouthpart (called a rostrum).  It pumps enzyme into the prey to dissolve tissue and sucks out the liquid.

Females lay clusters of long reddish brown eggs.  The nymphs go through five moults to become adults.

Assassin bugs hatching out.  At this first stage (moult) they are about 5mm in length :


*From the www.gimodo.com.au website I learned that this unbelievable assassin bug wears its victims' corpses as armour!!

After it's made it's kill, the assassin bug - which calls Malaysia home, but is also well known in other parts of the world - injects its victims with a special enzyme that dissolves and soften its guts so they can be easily sucked out.  Once all that's left is the insect's empty shell, the assassin bug attaches those exoskeletons to its back using a sticky secretion, piling them high to create a thick layer of protective armour that also serves to confuse its enemies.

It may seem a ridiculous stunt. but imagine if you were fighting a war and saw a soldier coming at you covered in dead bodies...you probably wouldn't know what on earth was going on would you?

I don't think this is a creature I would welcome in my garden as it is said to be a predator of the honey bee and we need bees for pollination. I've never seen this creature and hope I never do.  It may be that people living in our eastern states may have come across it in their gardens.  Would be interested to know if you have.

8 comments:

  1. I always learn so much coming here Mimsie thank you. Hug B

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    1. They say we are never too old to learn Buttons and I am much older than you so we, young and old, learn together. Thank you.xx

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  2. What a great post. I have had a fascination for the insect world for quite a long time now, ever since I have seen macro photography and learned a little bit more about them. They can get pretty gruesome but also very clever too.

    Also, I've noticed that you are one of the blogs I keep leaving several links to my posts. Please don't think I do this intentionally. I wrote a post about it a couple back before my present one, and asked for help in getting them deleted as I know for some it has become a bit annoying. One of my commenters suggested that people go to their settings, click on Posts and Comments and then Backlinks where it gave me a choice to hide or show. When some bloggers have clicked on 'hide' this for the most part has gotten rid of my backlinks and also prevents any others that might follow. I hope I am explaining myself properly but if you read the comments people have left they too are very helpful. Thank you for always visiting Mimsie. I do appreciate it.

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    1. Thank you Denise. Seems I may have chosen a worthwhile topic so will continue to try to enlighten as well as entertain. I hope to include beautiful insects along with the not so pretty.
      About the links from your blog. I'm not concerned as they don't worry me overmuch and I sometimes click on them to check what you've been up to.

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  3. Such a fascinating little beastie. I am intrigued by insects - and many of them are very beautiful too.
    Thanks Mimsie.

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    1. Thanks EC. I'm glad I've chosen a topic we hopefully will both enjoy.
      First of all I don't kill anything if I can avoid it and I'd certainly not want to carry the resulting body on my back but I guess to each his own and this fellow certainly has a way about him.

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  4. Fascinating subject you've chosen Mimsie! Insects are something I know little about and I'm looking forward to learning along with you.

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    1. Thanks River....I trust along the way we will both learn something of the insect world that neither of us knew before.

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