Assassin Bug
Here’s another great picture from Scott Roche. This one is of a “wheel bug” or assassin bug. The fluted rills on the sides of its abdomen are pretty characteristic for this type of bug. The namesake feature of this bug is hard to make out in this photo because of the angle: between its shoulders is a ridge that sticks up in a rounded “wheel” shape.
I still can’t tell for sure if these critters are venomous or not, but they will bite, and quite painfully, if provoked. At least, that’s the theory. Several readers have written in to say that they handle these bugs all the time without incident. Maybe these bugs just find some people less biteworthy?
tceisele said,
February 27, 2008 @ 7:24 am
I’m not sure about the distinction between “venom” and “digestive fluid”, but the stuff assassin bugs inject is intended to digest flesh into a liquid form that they can suck up. It kills insects and other small animals quickly (and presumably painfully), so if anyone wants to call it a venom, I for one am not going to argue.
Sometimes I think I should goad an assassin bug into biting me just to find out for sure what it feels like. Other times I think that is a spectacularly stupid idea. We’ll see which one wins the next time I find one.
Singingpixel said,
February 27, 2008 @ 9:19 am
I would vote for “particularly stupid idea,” although I wouldn’t word it that way since I don’t know you well enough to personally insult you. The bite of these guys is reputed to be astoundingly painful.
Of course, not knowing what they were, I’ve picked them up and moved them many times without getting bitten, but it’s not something I’d like to bet on.
AJ said,
February 27, 2008 @ 11:29 am
I’ve also heard that the bite is quite painful, and I have a friend who’s deathly allergic to their digestive fluid… So I’d advise against provoking one!
Athena said,
February 27, 2008 @ 1:33 pm
For the record, *Ladybugs* love to bite my grandma… so yeah, bugs seem to have preferences…
tceisele said,
February 27, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
I wonder if anyone who has been bitten by an assassin bug could rank it on the Schmidt Sting Pain scale for us?
JVidal-Riggs said,
February 27, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
Hahaha! I love the descriptions on that! Although I think that the bullet ant description is a bit of an exaggeration (or they were less nasty when I had a tussle with them).
Scott said,
February 28, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Yeah I don’t as a general rule provoke anything into biting me, venomous or no.
Kazriko said,
February 28, 2008 @ 3:03 pm
How does the Schmidt scale compare to the Ouchdammitometer? Would that be 4+ huertz for the bullet ant?
http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20000806.html