I’ve decided there are horrible bugs everywhere we live. I had never heard of assassin bugs til we moved here. No doubt they are in Texas but I was too busy watching out for spiders and scorpions and snakes that I must have missed the assassin bugs. Here, we have a bumper crop of them this year. I think they’re multiplying quickly because of the bag worms. They seem to love the bag works and I’m thankful the assassin bugs kill them because not much else seems to phase them.
But . . the assassin bug stings are really bad. I had heard it was one of the most painful stings ever but when I was looking it up, I see that 10,000 people die per year from assassin stings! That’s scary! The okra and elderberries are full of them. I’ve been shaking the okra with a broom before I start cutting it. This morning I was out cutting elderberries and I saw one in there. Then, I looked in my bucket and saw one in there. I used the clippers to scoop him up and let him go. Then . . thankfully I was off the ladder because I looked down and there was an assassin bug on my arm. There are Mennonite guys here working on a project so I’m glad I didn’t say a bad word.
Knowing those stings can be deadly, I’m probably going to cut okra and elderberries with a jacket and heavy gloves now.
Susan Nixon says
Oh, ugh. I hope I don’t have them here in my okra. I’ll have to find a picture. Thanks for the warning!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I don’t think I ever saw one in Texas or anywhere else but here, they’re everywhere. I think we have way more than last year because they are feasting on those bag worms.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
One good thing about them is they’re big and fairly easy to spot.
Joyce says
I was just looking for a photo, and read there are 200 species of assassin bugs. Ugh. Now I don’t know what to look for! I wonder if they’re like scorpions where some are more dangerous than others?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I don’t know. We have two types here and I see both of them. They’re very similar looking. One has a “wheel” on his back and the other doesn’t but otherwise, they look almost exactly the same.
Dottie says
They are DEFINITELY nasty! We had them in WV (haven’t seen any in the Texas panhandle). They were definitely all over the garden and crawled on the screens. Several of our neighbors called them wheel bugs, too.