Masked Hunter

My daugter found a bug about 5/16" long and 1/4" wide. It is blue (like a torguoise), 6 legs, semi hard shell looking. Don’t have a photo. They found it in their bathroom which is on the upper floor of a 3 story apartment bldg, all cement. Wish you cuold help identify. They still have it in a baggy. It is now dead. Maybe I can get a photo and email it this week.

I’m guessing you have a Masked Hunter, Reduvius personatus, a type of Assassin Bug from the family Reduviidae. These are True Bugs and they they are predatory. They are often found indoors where they prey on Bedbugs, but they are fully capable of delivering a painful bite to people who carelessly handle them. They get their common name because they have the habit of accumulating lint on their heads and bodies, and hence become masked. It looks like your daughter’s specimen has accumulated turquoise lint, possibly from a carpet.

I THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR RESPONDING. I have just never seen anything like it in all my years, but it makes sense. thanks again.

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