Reduvius personatus
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''Reduvius personatus'' or the masked hunter is an
insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
belonging to the assassin bug (Reduviidae) family. The name is because its
nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...
s
camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
themselves with dust. The masked hunter is a
predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
of small
arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s, including
woodlice A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood. ...
,
lacewing The insect order Neuroptera, or net-winged insects, includes the lacewings, mantidflies, antlions, and their relatives. The order consists of some 6,000 species. Neuroptera can be grouped together with the Megaloptera and Raphidioptera in t ...
s, earwigs,
bed bug Bed bugs are insects from the genus ''Cimex'' that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ...
s and
termite Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattode ...
s. Masked hunters do not feed on human blood, but can bite humans in self-defense when mishandled. The bite can be extremely painful, but masked hunters do not carry
Chagas disease Chagas disease, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a tropical parasitic disease caused by ''Trypanosoma cruzi''. It is spread mostly by insects in the subfamily ''Triatominae'', known as "kissing bugs". The symptoms change over the cou ...
unlike the kissing bug for which they are sometimes mistaken.


Identification

Adult masked hunters are uniformly dark brown to black in color and vary in length from 17–22 mm. They have an elongated head that includes a short, three-segmented beak, as well as long, slender antennae. Their abdomen is wide, extending in the middle beyond the wings to reveal the lateral margins of their
abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the torso. ...
segments. Nymphs of this species resemble the adult form and are naturally dark-colored, but often appear gray or light-colored due to a
camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
layer of debris covering them. Nymphs exude a sticky substance that covers their entire body, including the antennae and all six legs, which causes dust, lint, and other small particles to adhere to the surface of their body.


Natural history


Distribution

The masked hunter has a
Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical region ...
distribution. It is native to Europe, but was accidentally transported to North America and is now common in the Central and Eastern United States. It can be also found in South Africa, Eastern and Central Canada, and in high desert regions of the Northwest United States.


Lifecycle

Masked hunters, like other
Hemiptera Hemiptera (; ) is an order (biology), order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising over 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, Reduviidae, assassin bugs, Cimex, bed bugs, and shield bugs. ...
, undergo incomplete
metamorphosis Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops including birth or hatching, involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's body structure through cell growth and differentiation. Some inse ...
. Early stages of the lifecycle look like small adults and are called nymphs. Normally, one generation of masked hunter bugs occurs per year. Adults are common during midsummer, but can also be found in the winter.


Behavior

Nymphs of ''R. personatus'' use their hind legs and a tarsal fan to construct a camouflaging layer of substrate on their bodies. Two layers are formed, an inner layer of fine particles and an outer layer of coarser particles. The formation of these two layers may be the reason for the presence of long and short
trichome Trichomes (); ) are fine outgrowths or appendages on plants, algae, lichens, and certain protists. They are of diverse structure and function. Examples are hairs, glandular hairs, scales, and papillae. A covering of any kind of hair on a pla ...
s on the nymphs. Nymphs may use the serrated
setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for "bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. Th ...
present on their abdomens to assist in loosening substrate for use in camouflage. The camouflage may assist the nymph in avoiding detection by both predators and prey. They hunt
bed bugs Bed bugs are insects from the genus ''Cimex'' that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ...
at night, as well as other prey. Both the nymphs and adults are predatory, feeding on various
arthropod Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a Segmentation (biology), segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and Arth ...
s by piercing their bodies with sucking mouthparts. Masked hunters prefer dry habitats and are usually only found in small numbers when they infest houses.


Effects on Humans

Masked hunters deliver a bite comparable to a bee's sting when handled or trapped. The bite can cause swelling that lasts for about a week. Because they feed on a wide variety of arthropods, they sometimes are found in homes with bed bug infestations. They can generally be controled by dealing with the
bed bug infestation Bed bugs are insects from the genus ''Cimex'' that feed on blood, usually at night. Their bites can result in a number of health impacts including skin rashes, psychological effects, and allergic symptoms. Bed bug bites may lead to skin changes ...
.


References


External links


Iowa State University BugGuide Diagnostic Services at Michigan State University
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1686804 Reduviidae Insects described in 1758 Hemiptera of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus