Reduviidae

Taxobox
name = Assassin bugs

---

image_caption = Assassin bug in the sub-family Harpactocorinae
image_width = 250px
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hemiptera
subordo = Heteroptera
superfamilia = Cimicomorpha
familia = Reduviidae
familia_authority = Latreille, 1807
subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
subdivision =
Apiomerinae

Ectrichodiinae

Emesinae

Harpactorinae

Peiratinae

Phymatinae

Reduviinae

Saicinae

Salyavatinae

Stenopodainae

Tegeinae

Triatominae

Tribelocephalinae
etc.

Reduviidae is a large, cosmopolitan family of predatory insects in the suborder Heteroptera. It includes assassin bugs (genera include "Melanolestes", "Psellipus", "Rasahus", "Reduvius", "Rhiginia", "Sinea", "Triatoma", and "Zelus"), wheel bugs ("Arilus cristatus"), and thread-legged bugs (the subfamily Emesinae, including the genus "Emesaya"). There are about 7000 species altogether, making it one of the largest families in the Hemiptera.

Physical characteristics

) to produce sound.

Feeding

They use the long proboscis to inject a lethal saliva that liquefies the insides of the prey, which are then sucked out. The legs of some of these bugs are covered in tiny hairs that serve to make them sticky to hold onto their prey while they feed. The saliva is commonly effective at killing substantially larger prey than the bug itself. As nymphs, some species will cover and camouflage themselves with debris, or the remains of dead prey insects.Some species have been known to feed on cockroaches or bedbugs (in the case of the masked hunter) and are regarded in many locations as beneficial. Some people breed them as pets and for insect control.

Human contact

Many assassin bugs have been known to bite humans when not handled carefully. For some species the bite is known to be very painful, sometimes causing allergic reactions, and bites can become infected, as with any wound.

Some blood-sucking species, particularly "Triatoma spp." and other members of the subfamily Triatominae (e.g., "Paratriatoma hirsuta") , are also known as kissing bugs due to their habit of biting humans in their sleep on the soft tissue of the lips and eyes; a number of these haematophagous species, located in Central and South America, are able to transmit a potentially fatal trypanosome disease known as Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis).

External links

* [http://www.reduviidae.org/ Reduviidae Taxonomy Site]
* [http://www.heteroptera.ucr.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=51 Reduviidae Systematics Research at UC Riverside]