Sonoma Mountain Ecology Notes

Celebrating and Caring for the Land

An Assassin Bug

A member of the Reduviid family, this tiny assassin uses it’s long legs and piercing-sucking mouthparts (proboscis) to ambush other small invertabrates. They inject venom and digestive juices into their prey then slurp up the predigested material, a process known as “extraoral digestion”. Welcomed in many gardens for their help controlling “pests”, they are also able to deliver a painful bite to folks who handle them carelessly.

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