Subject: Did he eat his sibling?
Location: Andover, NJ – backyard
July 9, 2013 2:28 pm
I found an assassin bug nymph in my garden today and happily set about photographing it when I noticed what I first thought was a second nymph. But, as I watched, the white ”nymph” wasn’t moving and on closer look appeared to be just an empty shell/skin. So, did the orange nymph shed its skin or did it possibly kill a sibling?
Signature: Deborah Bifulco
Dear Deborah,
This is not sibling cannibalism. Rather is is the metamorphosis of a Sycamore Assassin Bug from one instar to a later instar. The shed skin is known as the exuvia.