Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
i know assasin bugs are not venomous reptiles and dont belong on this forum but barley anyone goes to the insechobbist forum and i couldnt find a proper messgae board for this topic,
i am sorry but i need some info and i am hoping someone can help.

i would like to know why assasin bugs are dangerous,
i have heard that they secrete dangerous saliva to kill or stun their prey and i have also heard their feces contains dangerous bacteria.
thanks
kevin
also
arent assasin bugs "venomous"

Assasin bugs most typically feed on other insects. They inject a modified saliva that dissolves their prey. In humans it generally only causes itching or a burning sensation. South American or tropical species will attack other animals like reptiles and mammals. These warm climate species can transfer a disease called Chagas to mammals. I'm not certain what the disease does but think it has something to do with the intestines or absorption of nutrients. The only real threat to humans comes when these little bugs bite us and we itch the bite because the bug bites and then poos next to the bite, when we itch we rub the poo into the wound and voila, we are infected. I'll have to check on it, but I think they can carry a parasite in their poo as well that is deadly.
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The Reduvidae (Assassin bugs) are technically venomous. Their venom contains potent neurotoxins (that are similar to some from the cone snails) as well as blood coagulation affecting proteins (specifically thrombin inhibitors). Further to that, they can spread Chagas disease (as Darwin found out).

Cheers
BGF
Venom & Toxin Database

I was envenomated by an insect which I believe may have been an assassin bug or cone nosed beetle. The circumstances were a bit unusual; I had my arm hanging out of the window while road cruising, and something small briefly struck my hand. There was no pain at the time of the bite, only a sensation of some sort of bug on my hand. I shook it off without really thinking about it, not wanting to take my eyes off the road.

Perhaps 15-20 minutes later I noticed a localized itching on the side of my index finger at the middle joint and assumed a mosquito had bitten me. Over the next hour my finger began to swell. The swelling progressed slowly over the next few hours until it reached my wrist, where it stopped. There were irregular patches of erythema and pruritis (reddening and itching) over the entire extremity. There were also mild sensations of prickly heat. The original bite site was not distinguished from the rest of the swelling in any way at this point and there was no visible entry wound.

The swelling was mild; no compartment syndrome here. I was unable to close my hand far enough to grasp a can of soda without very significant effort, though I did retain some mobility. There was no local pain unless I attepted to clench a fist, which was quite uncomfortable and resulted in tingling, numbness and pain.

I also experienced systemic symptoms. My mouth was abnormally dry and I felt very thirsty. I consumed several bottles of Gatorade and experienced some really annoying diuretic effects. There was a mildly painful but mostly odd sensation of a tight band clamping down on my forehead and reaching all the way around my skull. All of these symptoms persisted for about 24 hours, with some swelling and mild remnants of the "tight band" sensation continuing for an additional 24 hours or so. About 12 hours into the envenomation I felt nausea, muscle stiffness and general malaise, all of which went away after I took a short nap.

Due to the slow progression of the swelling I had plenty of time to figure out that this was a mild and non life threatening insect or arachnid envenomation. The cone nosed beetle was the most likely culprit I came up with from a quick perusal of the Internet; it fit both the locality and the symptoms. It is also possible that a scorpion was thrown up onto my hand from the tires or the wind of the car's passing. I did get the distinct impression of a flying insect landing on my hand, and I did not see any other scorpions on that road despite avidly looking for them, so I'd consider that a lower probability.

I'll tell you what i know about Assassin bugs. They are insect predators. They have a long proboscus on the end of their heads that they spear other bugs with and then suck out the liquids, much like a spider would hunt and eat it's prey.
As far as the toxicity goes, and any threat to anything bigger than a small bug, I cant give you any confident information on that. I would only guess that they are no threat to humans, but dont quote me on it. I've been wrong before......once.