Is this a bad bug?

kmrly

21 years ago

I've found more and more of these in my garden. What is it and is it bad? They average about 3/4 inch.

Thanks

Kimberly

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Comments (4)

chubbles
21 years ago
depends on what you mean by 'bad.' That is a young assassin bug and it is beneficial in that it will eat a lot of pests! If you are interested in raising butterfly caterpillars, it is a 'bad' bug because it will eat those too.
vernvan
21 years ago
I have the same question. However, it doesn't look anything like the assassin bugs in my bug book and I have had them on my orange tree for about a year. Here are my pictures.
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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
21 years ago
One of the many different species of assassin bug, and nymph. The one on the right will grow up to look like the one on the left.
drbugman
21 years ago
If you think that you have an assassin bug, CAREFULLY (since I usually handle dead specimens I don't have to worry about being bitten!) look at the length of the strawlike mouthparts. In assassin bugs, this structure is relatively short and fits into a slot between the first set of legs (closest to the head). This structure is typically longer in other true bugs such as stink bugs.