Assassin bugs....(any entymologists here ?)

[Ralph]

or better yet---any exterminators.

We moved to a new area of South Eastern Massachusetts recently. The area is heavily wooded. I've noticed quite a few
large insects crawling on the outside of the house recently. I'm pretty sure they're what're commonly known as assassin bugs
(hemiptera reduviidae).......also commonly called kissing bugs or conenose bugs.

I don't mind them them being outside---but lately I've been finding some on the inside of the house. They have a reputation for producing a nasty bite and I'd be interested in some ideas on how to get rid of them.

It's been very warm here lately--in the 60's & 70s over the last week & I was wondering if that had anything to do with all these ugly little bastards crawling around............................Thx......Ralph

[Goshawk]

Do they look like this?

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/outreach/good/card9.htm
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cee/biocontrol/predators/predgroups/photos/assassinbug.html

If so, they're valuable predators, and personally I'd find a way to co-exist with them, as long as they stayed outside. If they're crawling on your house, it's because they're finding something to eat there--something that maybe you might prefer to be eaten before it comes inside.

Like wasps and spiders--live and let live, as long as they stay outside.

For the ones that come inside, a magazine or flyswatter works well.

The warm weather has brought out the prey, so it brings out the predators, too.

[sickstan]

Aren't assassin bugs the ones with the cogwheel-like structures on the back? I think they feed on other insects, not mammals.

Kissing bugs are called that because they drink spit or other bodily fluids from your mouth or other areas (e.g. wounds) while you sleep. They spread disease by defecating into wounds or into the mouth. Chagas Disease (trypanosomiasis) is spread by kissing bugs in South America.

[William H.]

Did it look anything like this one?

http://www.uglybug.org/images02/bug9.jpg

I was waiting for an excuse to post this link:

http://www.uglybug.org/02dex.shtml

Some of the photos on this page are truly awesome. One of my favorites is the Malaysian Stick Insect.

[Ralph]

Originally posted by Goshawk
Do they look like this?

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/outreach/good/card9.htm
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cee/biocontrol/predators/predgroups/photos/assassinbug.html

If so, they're valuable predators, and personally I'd find a way to co-exist with them, as long as they stayed outside. If they're crawling on your house, it's because they're finding something to eat there--something that maybe you might prefer to be eaten before it comes inside.

Like wasps and spiders--live and let live, as long as they stay outside.

For the ones that come inside, a magazine or flyswatter works well.

Yeah---those are the ones.......They're not wheelbugs at least which are supposed to be particularly nasty.

Spiders I don't mind......even those big fast-running wolf spiders you find in your basement tend to stay out of the way.....These things though FLY......and while they haven't been aggresive----they don't seem to bother staying out of your way either.

There's something creepy about them........Of course I did notice the almost complete lack of mosquitoes in an area that borders some swampy wetlands........
The warm weather has brought out the prey, so it brings out the predators, too.

[cbish]

I thought Assasin bug's # 1 food source was termites!...

.....I'd check the foundation!:p

[Ralph]

Originally posted by cbish
I thought Assasin bug's # 1 food source was termites!...

.....I'd check the foundation!:p

The house was inspected in August right before I bought it.....No signs of any termite infestation.

Out back though there's a large pile pile of cord-wood that's pretty soggy. It's mostly oak and birch but it's so rotted you can break it apart in your hands.

There's also some large landscape timbers also in pretty bad shape..........

I'm thinking that getting rid of all this rotten wood might remove some of the reasons for them being here...

Maybe they'll find conditions better at my neighbors...........

[cbish]

I'd dispose of the rotten wood under the neighbors house!:p

[sickstan]

So.......

Are they assassin bugs or kissing bugs???

[3-toed-sloth]

This is an assassin bug. This particluar specis is called a wheel bug because of the wheel-looking thing on the back of its thorax. These guys are serious predators of other insects, I'd leave them alone. The order is hemiptera, the family is reduviidae.

http://entomology.unl.edu/images/beneficials/bugs/wheelbug1.jpg



These are leaf bugs, They belong to the same order (hemiptera) but a different family (Miridae). They use their stabbing beak to feed on plant juices.

http://eny3005.ifas.ufl.edu/lab1/Hemiptera/Mirid_1.jpg



Kissing bugs are a different species of reduviaid bugs, they feed on blood. The ones that transmit diseases (Chagas disease) are found in Latin America and go as far north as Texas.

http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~parasite/pictures/triatoma_infestans.gif



I wouldn't worry about them unless they are just crawling all over you

[NileQueen]

"Habitat: Predaceous upon insects; found on shrubs and other vegetation, particularly in meadows."

"Assassin bugs (Family: Reduviidae) form a large family, many species of which are common predatory bugs....There is a median longitudinal groove on the underside of the prothorax that is minutely, transversly striated. The beak fits into this groove and by moving the head up and down, rubs against the striations to produce a squeaking sound. Some species are bloodsuckers and attack mammals and even humans. The wheel bug, Arilus cristatus, is a very large species which can inflict a severe bite. Members of the genus Tritoma are bloodsucking insects in southwestern U.S. and Central America and are vectors of Chagas disease, a form of sleeping sickness."
Simon & Schuster's Guide to Insects. Arnett & Jacques.

I'd use the vacuum cleaner.