Assassin Bug Research Paper

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All around the world, there are millions of different types of insects. Some of the insects are just here to irritate anyone and anything, while others have the ability to evolve into something even more terrifying. According to Weekly World News, there is a type of assassin bug that uses its prey’s carcasses as body armor. Looking at years of possible evolution, the idea of a bug using these masking techniques to avoid predators is not exactly an extraordinary claim. As far as I am concerned, any organism that has ever lived has always tried to come up with new ways to prevent from becoming another organisms meal. Although Weekly World News does not have the best reputation, this claim of theirs could not be that far off track. Although the …show more content…
Some of these assassin bugs a part of the Reduviidae family are known to accumulate carcasses, soil and debris on their backs as a masking technique (Ramirez 3). However, the particular bug that Weekly World News wrote about, known as Acanthaspis petax, actually uses one of these methods. Although there are other ways to camouflage itself, the ant bug prefers to use its prey’s carcasses. Of all other insects, the most frequently found insect on their backs would be an ant (Jackson 5). It is because of their usage of ant carcasses on their backs that they were given the nickname “ant bugs” (Jackson 1). In order to kill their prey, the ant bug grabs the prey with their legs and pierces them with their syringe like mouthparts all while injecting digestive enzymes and paralyzing saliva at the same time. After the digestive enzymes take care of the ant insides, the ant bug ingests all the insides of the ant through the exoskeleton. After completely digested, the ant bug places the empty exoskeleton on its back and it is able to stick due to the adhesive threads excreted from the ant bug’s abdomen (Jackson 5). With ant carcasses on its back, the ant bug looks even more threatening and less of an opportunity for

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