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assassin bug
noun
: any of a family (Reduviidae) of bugs that are usually predatory on insects though some (such as a kissing bug) suck the blood of mammals
called also reduviid
Examples of assassin bug in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That's because this is a white-eyed assassin bug.
—cincinnati.com, 30 Apr. 2021
The creature was likely Triatoma infestans, a kissing bug—one of the almost 7,000 species of assassin bug that are now described.
—Christie Wilcox, Discover Magazine, 21 Mar. 2018
Robert Jackson and Simon Pollard from the University of Canterbury have been studying a pretender with a much more gruesome disguise – the ant-snatching assassin bug Acanthaspis petax, which covers itself with the corpses of its own prey.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 4 Oct. 2010
Exploitation of environmental noise by an araneophagic assassin bug.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 5 Feb. 2012
Witness an assassin bug luring a spider to its doom with bad vibes.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 27 Dec. 2010
The assassin bug sucks up the soupy tissue and attaches the corpse to its back like a creepy backpack.
—Holly Barker, Discover Magazine, 7 Oct. 2022
The package comes with a cicada, a cockroach, a Japanese beetle, a water scorpion and an assassin bug for your amateur entomologists.
—Good Housekeeping, 18 Nov. 2022
Known as an assassin bug, Sycanus uses its mouthpart to stab its insect prey, including the fire caterpillar, one of the most important pests of oil palm trees.
—Dyna Rochmyaningsih, Science | AAAS, 11 July 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'assassin bug.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1890, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Assassin bug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assassin%20bug. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Medical Definition
assassin bug
noun
as·sas·sin bug
ə-ˈsas-ᵊn-
: any bug of the family Reduviidae compare conenose
More from Merriam-Webster on assassin bug
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about assassin bug
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