CLOSED: Assassin beetles

So I read today's bug files article on them, but I was wondering, how can you kill these vicious things? I do not have them in my area, but it would still be good to know.

What exactly are you referring to? There is no such thing as 'assassin beetles,' and the vast majority of assassin bugs (Hemiptera/Heteroptera: Reduviidae) are beneficial predators on other arthropods. The only real exceptions are the cone-nosed/kissing bugs in the subfamily Triatominae (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kissing_bug) that are vectors of Chagas' disease (American trypanosomiasis), and this disease does not occur in Utah.

Well the comments on the bugs said that if they could not get blood from their usual prey they will stalk a human. If the disease doesn't occur in Utah it is because there are no
Hemiptera/Heteroptera bugs around. I am not holding my breath though.

I don't wish to alarm you, but I can assure you that true bugs (Hemiptera/Heteroptera), including assassin bugs, are quite abundant in Utah. However, about the worst you can expect from most of them is a painful 'bite' if you pick one up carelessly. Members of the subfamily Triatominae are the only ones that are blood feeders, and one species (Triatoma protracta) in this group does occur in Utah. However, Chagas' disease has never been reported there. See http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/assassinbugs93.pdf for detailed information on assassin bugs in Utah.

Oh, ok. I am not alarmed. Thanks for the link suunto. Guess I need to have a look at it.

Just FYI, I am "raising" 2 wheel bugs. They are so neat. They watch me walk by, turning their heads as I go, and if I find something good that I can give them, like I found one of those huge green tomato worms with the horn on the back on my tomato plant, I fed it to one of the wheel bugs. It sat there watching every move I made, as soon as I moved my hand he came in for the kill. It's so cool to watch them raise up and pounce on their prey, I wish I had more of them. They are so helpful to the garden. I do not hold them, however, because I don't want to be bit. I have never heard of an assassin bug attacking a human when it has nothing to eat. Just as any other biting/stinging bug, if you mess with it, it's probably going to bite you to protect itself.

Probably. That is just from one of the comments made about that kind of insect. But that is still cool about your wheel bugs. I guess they look to you as their mommy.

I guess so LOL They have all left home now to go raise families of their own LOL I needed them the other day too, I found 3 big fat tomato worms on my tomato plant, complete devoured the top 1/4 of it. That's when I noticed they were gone, I was going to move them over to the tomato plant and let them have the feast of their lives, instead I ended up putting them in the forest across the street.

Boy that bites. They could have stayed and lived in that beautiful tomato forest in your yard too. Maybe they will come back or tell their children where to get the most succulent hornworms. Hee hee hee. Could happen!

It could LOL! Those stupid hornworms are destructive! I figured something would benefit out of them instead of just smashing them. That would have been really, really nasty.

I have been told they scream when you squish them.