Thanks to Dimitri Forero for identifying the images in this gallery.
Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this web-site were taken by Paul Smith, Pier Caccialli, Jeni Oborn, David Gill, Ivan Saxby, Alberto Esquivel, Laura Tensen, Moriz Stiefel and Lucy McLaughlin and are used with their permission.
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/index.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/aims.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/about_paraguay.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/wildlife.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/publications.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/mini_guides.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/tours.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/volunteer.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/library.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/museum.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/partners.html
http://www.faunaparaguay.com/contact.html
FAMILY REDUVIIDAE: ASSASSIN BUGS
Assassin Bugs constitute over 5000 worldwide species of predatory or blood-sucking bugs. Colouration varies from dull and cryptic to bright and aposematic, and body shape varies from robust to thin and thread-like. Many species are hairy or spiny and some possess strange body flanges. The head is small, often elongated and bears four-segmented antennae. The rostrum is stout, curved and consists of three segments. In many species sounds can be produced by scraping the rostrum along a medial, ridged groove on the underside of the thorax. Reduviids are fierce predators capable of subduing insect prey much larger than themselves. Victims are impaled with the rostrum via a weak point in the cuticle and a paralysing, tissue-dissolving saliva is injected. The front legs often possess spines, adhesive hairs or thickening to assist with subduing prey. Blood-feeding species such as the Cone-nosed Bugs (called Binchucas in Paraguay) in the subfamily Triatominae are vectors for protozoan parasites that may cause disease in humans - notably Chaga´s Disease which, despite the wide distribution of its vector, is only locally distributed in Paraguay in the northern Orient.
Click on the images to enlarge them.
FIGURE 1

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 2

FIGURE 2
FIGURE 3

FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4

FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5

FIGURE 5
FIGURE 6

FIGURE 6
FIGURE 7

FIGURE 7
FIGURE 8

FIGURE 8
FIGURE 9

FIGURE 9
FIGURE 10

FIGURE 10
FIGURE 11

FIGURE 11
FIGURE 12

FIGURE 12
FIGURE 13

FIGURE 13
FIGURE 14

FIGURE 14
FIGURE 15

FIGURE 15
FIGURE 16

FIGURE 16
FIGURE 17

FIGURE 17
FIGURE 18

FIGURE 18
FIGURE 1 - Apiomerus sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Apiomerini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Paul Smith November 2007 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 2 - Apiomerus sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Apiomerini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Ivan Saxby February 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 3 - Apiomerus sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Apiomerini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Pier Cacciali April 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 4 - Apiomerus sp. nymph (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Apiomerini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Jeni Oborn June 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 5 - Wheel Bug Arilus sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Harpactorini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel undated - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 6 - Wheel Bug Arilus sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Harpactorini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Jeni Oborn May 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 7 - Brontostoma sp. (Subfamily Ectrochodiinae), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Alberto Esquivel November 2007 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 8 - Brontostoma affinis discus (Subfamily Ectrochodiinae), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Moriz Stiefel March 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 9 - Harpactor angulosus nymph (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Harpactorini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Laura Tensen February 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 10 - Harpactor angulosus recently emerged adult (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Harpactorini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (David Gill March 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 11 -  Harpactor angulosus nymph, PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (David Gill March 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 12 - Harpactor sp. nymph (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Harpactorini) , PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Laura Tensen February 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 13 - Unidentified sp. nymph (Subfamily Harpactorinae, Tribe Harpactorini), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Lucy McLaughlin March 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 14 - Repipta sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Pier Cacciali April 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 15 - Repipta sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Pier Cacciali June 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 16 - Ricolla sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae), PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Moriz Stiefel April 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 17 - Zelus sp. (Subfamily Harpactorinae) PROCOSARA, PN San Rafael (Pier Cacciali April 2008 - ECOSARA Biodiversity Database).
FIGURE 18 - Binchuca Triatoma sp. (Subfamily Triatominae), PN Tte Enciso, Departamento Boquerón (Paul Smith October 2007).