The first day out for a baby assassin bug
The male assassin bug isn't that much smaller than the female assassin bug - that's unusual in the insect world
An interview with the happy couple...
King (or Queen) of the four board fence.
This inch worm was big enough to chase off the baby assassin bugs. - for now.
The next time you feel sorry for yourself, remember it could be worse. You could be 1/2 inch tall and find yourself stuck on a fence with this HUNGRY baby monster!
This pair decided to take over my muck wheelbarrow for thier little ritual. I left them alone (and didn't much my stalls) for two days last August. They were a quiet couple and didn't take any towels.
I am always amazed when I meet such a happy couple. As near as I can tell, she didn't eat him, and he didn't insult her.
They needed the honeymoon wheelbarrow for two days. I was happy to let them have it.
This afternoon, April 7, 2003 I noticed that there were assassin babies all over the fence near the site of the honeymoon wheelbarrow of last fall. The babies are all very cheeky. some have fat abdoments, ( they have probably eaten something) and some have tiny abdomens. An inch worm chased one of these babies off the top of the fence post. -So they aren't the kings of the fence yet.
The assassin bugs gravitate to any thing that has a gray color, like the unpainted wood in most pasture fences. They blend into the color very well. It continues to get better as they grow older. Today, on their first day out they challenged anything they found on the fence, ants, and caterpillars mostly. The inch worm in the next picture actually chassed off a big assassin bug, but that won't last for long. Soon the assisssin bugs will feast on caterpillars - all summer long.
Notice how the inch worm hooks its 4 hind feet into the fence so it can do this elaborate backbend. It can actually stand out horizontally from the fence post and LOOM over the baby assassin bugs. However, this advantage won't last long, the inch worm is full grown, and the assassin bugs are only 1/8th of their full size.
