this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2024
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Khorne, my pet assassin bug (hexbear.net)
submitted 11 hours ago by happybadger@hexbear.net to c/earth@hexbear.net
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A deer nibbled at my dragon fruit cactus, not Khorne. Assassin bugs are fantastic generalist predators and this nymph hitched a ride on my plants as I took them indoors for the winter. I'm keeping it around as pest control and hopefully some others will join it. Aphids for the Aphid God.

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[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 3 points 11 hours ago

I think Khorne might be a Zelus luridus.

That's elsewhere in the thread. I googled.

I really like this article I found - Bug Eric: Sundew Assassin Bugs: Zelus. It's short and well-written for the average reader. Example...

Sundew assassins get their common name from the unique physiology that allows them to catch prey. While ambush bugs have extremely muscular front legs that snap shut on prey with stunning force, sundew assassins look like the 90-pound weakling by comparison. Their appendages are thin and seemingly delicate or flimsy. The tibiae ("shins") of the front legs (and to some degree the middle legs) are densely covered in short hairs, and this is part of their secret weapon.

Special glands in the exoskeleton of the legs secrete a glue-like material that that the insect intentionally smears over those hairs. This creates a sticky layer that small prey cannot escape from once the assassin grabs them. The prey-catching scenario is analogous to the insect-eating plant known as the sundew, which inspires the name "sundew assassin bugs."