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White Eyed Assassin Bug

Common Name: White Eyed Assassin Bug

Scientific Name: Platymeris biguttata

Order: Hemiptera

Range: White-eyed Assassin Bugs are found in the drier regions of southern Africa.

Diet: Preys on soft-bodied insects and occasionally vertebrate blood

Reader Rail Information: The Reduviid family of bugs, commonly called Assassin Bugs, prey on soft-bodied insects and occasionally vertebrate blood. They have piercing mouthparts that are shaped into a beak and deliver a paralyzing bite to invertebrate prey (caterpillars are especially favored). The two large white spots on their wing cases give them their common name. White-eyed Assasssin Bugs hide in groups under peeling bark, logs, and rocks. They emerge at night to feed. In Central America, the Kissing Bug (Triatoma sanguinea), a closely related species, feeds on human blood and may carry Chagas Disease. They get their name for their habit of biting on the lips of their victims to drink their blood meal.

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