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What’s that bug?
Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Hi
Last August i found this interesting insect in Namibia. Its amazing the camouflage, is very difficult to see near the rocks.. Its near 1 cm and very quite.
Thanks so much
Greetings from Spain
Javi
Namibia

Masked Hunter

Hi Javi,
Your insect reminds us of a North American species called the Masked Hunter, Reduvius personatus.  The immature Masked Hunter is sticky and attracts dust and debris to its body as a form of camouflage.  Homemakers often encounter dusty specimens in their homes.  One of our favorite images from our archive was a Masked Hunter nymph that was blue because the carpet in its habitat was blue and the carpet fibers stuck to the bug.  If this is a closely related species and it doesn’t have a dusty home interior as a habitat, it would attract sand and small pebbles to its sticky exoskeleton.  Your creature is definitely a Hemipteran, probably a nymph and probably an Assassin Bug, and quite possibly in the same genus, Reduvius, as the Masked Hunter.

Related Posts

1. Adult Masked Bedbug Hunter (July 13, 2005)
2. Norwegian Masked Bedbug Hunter (July 12, 2005)
3. Masked Hunter named Pepi (March 11, 2005)
4. Masked Bedbug Hunter (December 23, 2006)
5. Masked Hunter (July 15, 2009)