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title: "What the sources say about the Assassin Bug | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "43 claims from the Assassin Bug profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Assassin Bug (*Acanthaspis petax*)

> 43 claims from the Assassin Bug profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Assassin Bug](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/assassin-bug/)

## Jackson & Pollard (2007). Bugs with backpacks deter vision‐guided predation by jumping spiders. Journal of Zoology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00335.x

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The predatory bug that covers itself with the carcasses of ants, a disguise that seems to fool jumping spiders. | covers itself with a 'mask', or 'backpack', made from carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) ... salticids readily identify naked bugs as prey, but fail to identify masked bugs as prey (note: "seems to" carries the abstract's "These findings suggest"; salticids are jumping spiders.) |
| Not Evaluated | Acanthaspis petax , a reduviid bug (note: GBIF's copy of the Red List returns NOT_EVALUATED for Acanthaspis petax Stål, 1865, usage key 9766270, checked 2026-09-16. No Red List assessment exists for this species.) |
| The Lake Victoria region of East Africa, where the studied bugs came from | The ant bugs and the salticids were from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa. |
| Ants, its preferred prey | carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) |
| Wears a mask of ant carcasses that seems to fool sharp-eyed jumping spiders | covers itself with a 'mask', or 'backpack', made from carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) ... salticids being predators with exceptionally acute vision ... salticids readily identify naked bugs as prey, but fail to identify masked bugs as prey |
| Acanthaspis petax is a reduviid, or assassin bug, also known as the "ant bug." | Acanthaspis petax , a reduviid bug ('ant bug') (note: "assassin bug" = Reduviidae per walker-2017's opening: "Assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae)".) |
| The bugs in a 2007 study of it came from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa. | The ant bugs and the salticids were from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa. (note: "2007" is the reference's own year field, not text inside the abstract.) |
| Its preferred prey is ants. | carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) |
| It covers itself with a "mask," or "backpack," made from the carcasses of those ants. | covers itself with a 'mask', or 'backpack', made from carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) |
| The study asked how insects use masks like this as a defence against predators that hunt by sight. | As a case study of how insects use masks as a defence against vision‐guided predators |
| The test predators were three species of jumping spider from the same region. | three salticid spider species, Hyllus sp., Plexippus sp. and Thyene sp. ... The ant bugs and the salticids were from the Lake Victoria region of East Africa. |
| Jumping spiders are predators with exceptionally acute vision. | salticids being predators with exceptionally acute vision |
| In each test, a spider was shown either a live bug or a lure made from a dead bug. | In each test, a salticid was presented with a live bug or a lure made from a dead bug |
| Some had the mask intact and some had it removed, which the researchers called "naked." | with the mask removed ('naked') or intact ('masked') |
| The spiders made predatory responses to naked bugs significantly more often than to masked ones. | Salticids made predatory responses to naked bugs significantly more often than to masked bugs. |
| The results suggest the spiders readily identify a naked bug as prey but fail to identify a masked one. | salticids readily identify naked bugs as prey, but fail to identify masked bugs as prey |
| Jumping spiders are vision-guided predators, yet in experiments they made predatory responses to masked Acanthaspis petax significantly less often than to bugs with the mask removed. | vision‐guided predators, an experimental study was carried out using Acanthaspis petax ... Salticids made predatory responses to naked bugs significantly more often than to masked bugs. |
| Acanthaspis petax belongs to Reduviidae, the assassin bug family. | Acanthaspis petax , a reduviid bug (note: Reduviidae = assassin bugs per walker-2017: "Assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae)".) |
| Acanthaspis petax covers itself with what researchers call a mask, or backpack, made from the carcasses of its preferred prey, ants. | covers itself with a 'mask', or 'backpack', made from carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) |
| In experiments, jumping spiders, hunters with exceptionally acute vision, made predatory responses to bugs with the mask removed significantly more often than to masked bugs. | an experimental study ... salticids being predators with exceptionally acute vision ... Salticids made predatory responses to naked bugs significantly more often than to masked bugs. |
| The results suggest the spiders fail to identify a masked bug as prey. | These findings suggest that salticids readily identify naked bugs as prey, but fail to identify masked bugs as prey. |
| a bug that hides under a backpack made from the carcasses of the ants it preys on, a mask that draws significantly fewer predatory responses from jumping spiders than a bare bug | covers itself with a 'mask', or 'backpack', made from carcasses of its preferred prey (ants) ... Salticids made predatory responses to naked bugs significantly more often than to masked bugs |

## Walker et al. (2017). Melt With This Kiss: Paralyzing and Liquefying Venom of The Assassin Bug Pristhesancus plagipennis (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.

https://doi.org/10.1074/mcp.m116.063321

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| belongs to a family whose venom can paralyze and liquefy | Assassin bug venom has features in common with venoms from other animals, such as paralyzing and lethal activity when injected ... this venom also has strong liquefying activity (note: Family-level (Reduviidae); A. petax's own venom is not studied in any cached source.) |
| Assassin bugs are venomous insects, and most of them prey on invertebrates. | Assassin bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae) are venomous insects, most of which prey on invertebrates. |
| Their venom can paralyze and kill when injected, and its ingredients include peptide neurotoxins. | paralyzing and lethal activity when injected, and a molecular composition that includes disulfide-rich peptide neurotoxins |
| It also has strong liquefying activity, which scientists call unique among venoms. | Assassin bug venom has features in common with venoms from other animals ... Uniquely, this venom also has strong liquefying activity |
| A 2017 study of another assassin bug, Pristhesancus plagipennis, found more than 100 proteins in its venom. | the venom proteome of the harpactorine assassin bug Pristhesancus plagipennis includes a complex suite of >100 proteins (note: "2017" is the reference's own year field, not text inside the abstract.) |
| Many are enzymes and cell-damaging components that the authors say are likely to be well suited to turning tissue into liquid. | assassin bug venom includes a high proportion of enzymatic and cytolytic venom components likely to be well suited to tissue liquefaction |
| Scientists have suggested that this liquefying power helps the bug feed through the narrow channel of its proboscis. | strong liquefying activity that has been hypothesized to facilitate feeding through the narrow channel of the proboscis |
| That mouthpart was inherited from ancestors that fed on plant sap. | a structure inherited from sap- and phloem-feeding phytophagous hemipterans |
| As the bug group called Heteroptera evolved, it became a fang and feeding structure. | adapted during the evolution of Heteroptera into a fang and feeding structure |
| Assassin bug venom has strong liquefying activity, which scientists call unique among venoms. | Assassin bug venom has features in common with venoms from other animals ... Uniquely, this venom also has strong liquefying activity |
| It can also paralyze and kill when injected. | paralyzing and lethal activity when injected |
| Scientists have suggested the liquefying power helps the bug feed through the narrow channel of its proboscis. | strong liquefying activity that has been hypothesized to facilitate feeding through the narrow channel of the proboscis |
| A 2017 study of the assassin bug Pristhesancus plagipennis found more than 100 proteins in its venom. | the venom proteome of the harpactorine assassin bug Pristhesancus plagipennis includes a complex suite of >100 proteins (note: "2017" is the reference's own year field, not text inside the abstract.) |

## Assassin and Ambush bugs (Hemiptera: Reduviidae). University of Florida IFAS Entomology & Nematology.

https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/projex/gallery/dl/Beneficial_Arthropods_Predators/text/assassin_bugs.htm

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A University of Florida guide describes North American assassin bugs and ambush bugs together. | There are many different species of assassin and ambush bugs. The following description provides general characteristics for the group. |
| It gives assassin bugs a length of 1.3 to 3.7 centimetres. | Assassin bugs are 1.3 to 3.7 cm in length (note: The guide's own figure for assassin bugs; ambush bugs are given separately (1.3 cm or less).) |
| Across the group, females are longer and wider than males, and the bugs take about three months to complete their life cycle. | females are longer and wider than males ... It takes about three months for these bugs to complete their life cycles. (note: Group-wide statements: the guide describes assassin and ambush bugs together.) |
| After the eggs hatch, the nymphs go through five stages called instars before they become adults. | Once the eggs hatch, the nymphs undergo five instars until they reach the adult stage. (note: Paraphrase: "after" for "Once", "before they become adults" for "until they reach the adult stage". North American assassin bugs, per the IFAS page.) |
| Nymphs are usually soft-bodied and brightly coloured. | Nymphs are usually soft bodied and are brightly colored |
| Some North American assassin bugs can. | At least one species, the masked hunter, feeds on bed bugs but also bites people. (note: The IFAS page covers North American assassin bugs only.) |
| The masked hunter bites people as well as feeding on bed bugs, and the wheel bug can deliver a painful bite if handled. | At least one species, the masked hunter, feeds on bed bugs but also bites people. The wheel bug, common in the eastern United States, also can deliver a painful bite to people if handled. |
| dangerLevel: Medium | also can deliver a painful bite to people if handled (note: Family scope, as the page frames bites: a painful bite that rarely does serious harm is Medium's 'Can injure, but rarely seriously'. No source records a bite from A. petax itself.) |