A banded assassin on white netting
Against the white mesh of a drying net, the pattern was impossible to miss: a long insect banded in black and white, its wings marked with bold geometric patches, its slender antennae forked at the tips. It sat facing me without moving, patient in the way of things that hunt by waiting. The mesh, I realised, was probably meant for drying something far more peaceful than this.
This is Platerus pilcheri, an assassin bug of the family Reduviidae, order Hemiptera. The reduviids are ambush predators, and everything about them is built for one decisive moment: a short, curved rostrum tucked under the head, used to stab prey and pump in saliva that dissolves the insides, which are then sucked out. They take other insects and are not fussy about the size of the victim relative to themselves. The antennae, forked at the tips, swept slowly through the air, reading the world in a way that eyes alone cannot.
The bold banding is typical of many assassin bugs. Some rely on it to break up their outline against bark and shadow, others to warn off enemies, and a careless finger near a reduviid can sometimes earn a sharp, painful jab, so I kept a respectful distance with my camera instead. Assassin bugs get their name honestly: the same rostrum that works on caterpillars and flies works on anything else that wanders close.
It never moved while I watched. Whatever it was waiting for, I hope it came along after I left, or perhaps it was simply waiting for dusk, when its prey would be out in numbers.
