Biological Tuesday
PAST May 18, 2004 NEXT

* Bloodsucker? *

This creepy alien-looking bug is an Assassin Bug. My mother called it a bloodsucker, which they are sometimes referred to as. This one was just a hatchling, at only 5 millimeters in length,  and would have grown to be much larger, if my mother hadn't squashed it.

There are actually nearly three thousand species of assassin bugs found all around the world. They do, in fact, suck blood from other insects, animals and sometimes even humans.