Reduviidae

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Reduviidae

Reduviidae is a large, cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan distribution

In biogeography, a biological category of living things is said to have cosmopolitan distribution if this category can be found almost anywhere around the world....
family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
of predatory insect

Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
s in the suborder Heteroptera

Heteroptera

Heteroptera is a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the Hemiptera. Sometimes called "true bugs", that name more commonly refers to Hemiptera as a whole, and "typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal alternative since among the Hemiptera the heteropterans are most consistently and universally termed "bugs"....
. It includes assassin bugs (genera

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
include Melanolestes, Psellipus, Rasahus, Reduvius, Rhiginia, Sinea, Triatoma
Triatoma

Triatoma is a genus of assassin bug in the subfamily Triatominae The members of Triatoma are blood-sucking hemiptera that can transmit serious diseases, such as Chagas disease....
, and Zelus
Zelus (genus)

Zelus is a genus of assassin bug family , in the subfamily Harpactorinae....
), wheel bug

Wheel bug

The Wheel bug , in the family Reduviidae, is one of the largest terrestrial true bugs in North America, being up to 1.5 inches, or 38 mm, in length; it is the only member of its genus....
s (Arilus cristatus), and thread-legged bugs (the subfamily Emesinae

Emesinae

Emesinae are a subfamily of the Reduviidae . They are conspicuously different from the other reduviids by their very slender body form. They are stalking, predaceous insects that can be collected on palm fronds, cliffs, spider webbing, or near lights at night ....
, including the genus Emesaya). There are about 7000 species altogether, making it one of the largest families in the Hemiptera

Hemiptera

Hemiptera is an order of insects, comprising around 80,000 species of cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, shield bugs, and others. They range in size from 1 mm to around 15 cm, and share a common arrangement of sucking mouthparts ....
.

t insects often range from 4 to 40 mm

Millimetre

The millimetre is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousandth of a metre, which is the current International System of Units SI base unit of length....
.

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Physical characteristics

Adult insects often range from 4 to 40 mm

Millimetre

The millimetre is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one thousandth of a metre, which is the current International System of Units SI base unit of length....
. They most commonly have an elongated head with a distinct narrowed neck, long legs, and a prominent, segmented tube for feeding (rostrum

Rostrum (anatomy)

A rostrum is an anatomy structure resembling a beak, such as the snout of a crocodile or dolphin or the foremost extension of a crustacean carapace....
). Most species are dark in color with hues of brown, black, red, or orange. The most distinctive feature of the family is that the tip of the rostrum fits into a groove in the prosternum, where it is rasped against ridges there (a stridulitrum) to produce sound.

Feeding

They use the long rostrum to inject a lethal saliva

Saliva

Saliva is the watery and usually frothy substance produced in the mouths of humans and most other animals. Saliva is produced in and secreted from the salivary glands....
that liquefies the insides of the prey, which are then sucked out. The legs of some of these bugs are covered in tiny hairs that serve to make them sticky to hold onto their prey while they feed. The saliva is commonly effective at killing substantially larger prey than the bug itself. As nymph

Nymph (biology)

In biology, a nymph is the immature form of some insects, which undergoes incomplete metamorphosis before reaching its adult stage; unlike a typical larva, a nymph's overall form already resembles that of the adult....
s, some species will cover and camouflage

Camouflage

Camouflage is a method of cryptic or concealing coloration that allows an otherwise visible organism or object to remain invisibility through deception....
themselves with debris, or the remains of dead prey insects. Some species have been known to feed on cockroach

Cockroach

Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria. This name derives from the Latin word for "cockroach", blatta.There are about 4,000 species of cockroach, of which 30 species are associated with human habitations and about four species are well known as pest s....
es or bedbug

Bedbug

A bedbug is a small Nocturnal animal insect of the family Cimicidae that lives by hematophagy, or by feeding on the blood of humans and other homeothermic Host s...
s (in the case of the masked hunter

Masked hunter

The masked hunter is an insect, belonging to the assassin bug family. The name refers to the fact that its Nymph camouflages itself with dust....
) and are regarded in many locations as beneficial. Some people breed them as pets and for insect control.

Naming

Assassin bugs are so named because of their tendency to wait in ambush

Ambush

An ambush is a long-established military tactics, in which the aggressors use concealment to attack a passing enemy. Ambushers strike from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops....
for their prey.

Human contact

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
Triatoma

Triatoma is a genus of assassin bug in the subfamily Triatominae The members of Triatoma are blood-sucking hemiptera that can transmit serious diseases, such as Chagas disease....
spp. and other members of the subfamily Triatominae

Triatominae

The members of Triatominae , a subfamily of Reduviidae, are also known as conenose bugs, kissing bugs, assassin bugs or triatomines....
(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

Hematophagy

Hematophagy is the habit of certain animals of feeding on blood . Since blood is a fluid tissue rich in nutritious proteins and lipids that can be taken without enormous effort, hematophagy has evolution as a preferred form of feeding in many small animals such as worms and arthropods....
species, located in Central and South America, are able to transmit a potentially fatal trypanosome

Trypanosome

Trypanosomes are a group of kinetoplastid protozoa distinguished by having only a single flagellum. All members are exclusively parasite, found primarily in insects....
disease known as Chagas disease

Chagas disease

'Chagas disease' is a tropical disease parasitic disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi. T. cruzi is commonly transmitted to humans and other mammals by an insect Vector , the hematophagy assassin bugs of the subfamily Triatominae most commonly species belonging to the Triatoma, Rhodnius, and Panstrongy...
(American trypanosomiasis).

Reduviidae

Physical characteristics

Feeding

Naming

Human contact

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